The End
by Ashari
Summary: Post-series, continuation fic. The story of a life doesn't end at death, especially not for one who has never died. Chapter Five. New spells, new worries, and all they bring are new questions.
1. Awakening

**Disclaimer:**Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Monsters were created by Kazuki Takahashi. No profit is gained by the writer for the posting of this fan-fiction; it is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

The light was warm. He could still hear the cries of his friends behind him, could almost feel their tears, but they knew. They knew that this was where he belonged. He didn't want to leave them either, but they all knew that this day would come. They had always known…and the light was warm. 

He stepped forward. A flicker of something beyond the doors caught his eye; a familiar face?

_Mahad…Mana…Father…_

The flicker vanished.

"You don't get to leave, Pharaoh."

Pain exploded over his form. It felt like an unseen fire was burning through every cell, stripping away every nerve—how, how could fire touch spirit, burn flesh that wasn't there?

Atem fell to his knees, gasping.

"You don't get your happy ending. Your cursed soul will linger in this place. And you _will_ die."

_Who—how—what—_

The scattered, frantic questions were seared away by that horrific, inexplicable pain. He hadn't realized he was screaming, but now he could feel his lungs burn with it.

The world pitched and tilted. The ground rushed up to meet him. Dimly, he thought he could hear the cries of his friends just before he was swallowed by the darkness.

* * *

Nothing. No light. Was he floating? 

Whispers. Words of people he knew. Fragments of scattered memory, drifting in the dark.

Sound, but no light.

"_Together…no matter what…"_

_Anzu._

"_Oi…you okay…?"_

_Honda._

"_May as well give it up…always gonna be with you…"_

_Jounouchi._

"_My other self…"_

_Aibou. Yugi. Aibou._

The darkness began to dissipate.

He blinked, opening his eyes to a world that was nothing more than an obscured, colored blur. He blinked, blearily willing his eyes—and his mind—to focus.

A familiar face coalesced out of the haze above him.

"My other self…no…Atem…can you hear me?" That face and voice were so soaked with worry that even through the fog he could feel his heart clench.

"Ai…Aibou..." His answer came barely audible, but it came nonetheless.

"Are you alright? How are you feeling?" The relief that had lit up Yugi's kind, round eyes crinkled back into worry again as the boy felt Atem's forehead. The Pharaoh closed his eyes at the blessed coolness of that hand, then opened them again in wonder—was he really that feverish?

"Aibou. What…" Atem swallowed with difficulty, his brow furrowing at how inexplicably dry his mouth was. He tried to wet his lips, but to no avail. "What happened?"

"Ah…!" Yugi didn't answer, but scurried to the desk on the other side of his bedroom, returning at once with a glass and pitcher of water. "I'm sorry! You must be thirsty, huh?" He filled the glass, set the pitcher on the bedside table, and slid a hand under Atem's neck to help him upright. "Here you go." The teenager smiled apologetically.

The Pharaoh's first instinct was to protest that Yugi needn't trouble himself by helping him to sit up, but his eyes widened as he realized it—he really _couldn't _sit up on his own. He was entirely too weak to move. Confusion hammered even more intensely on his skull as he drank from the offered glass.

Once Yugi had set the glass down and placed himself at his friend's side, Atem tried again.

"What happened back there?" His eyes pinned his partner with bewilderment so intense that it demanded to be answered. "You won the ceremonial duel. So why am I back here…?" Atem's eyes drifted upwards, tracing the familiar arch of the sloped ceiling above Yugi's bedroom.

Yugi's face fell even further in its worry, and sadness joined the expression in his eyes. "I did win…and the doors opened…don't you remember? You were about to walk through…to pass on…but suddenly there was this voice from nowhere…and you started screaming…"

Atem's eyes widened. The pain. Yes, he remembered. He remembered a pain so startling and intense that it robbed him of his consciousness.

"Then…you just collapsed…and the doors to the Afterlife closed before they were all the way open…"

Atem grimaced, shutting his eyes again. His friends, his priests, his father…he had been denied reuniting with them, denied returning to his proper place…why?

"We got to you, and the doors shut…you were breathing, but…that's the thing, Atem. You were _breathing_."

His eyes snapped open again.

"You weren't just a spirit anymore. You were…are…solid. My other self…no…Atem…you have a body. You're _alive_."

The Pharaoh simply stared. _Impossible. This is impossible._

"We don't know _how_ it happened…we're sure it had something to do with that voice, though." The worry, sadness and apology evaporated from Yugi's face as a willful, determined expression took its place. His gaze drifted away from Atem's countenance. "We searched everywhere for that man…but there was no one else in the temple. There was another weird thing, too. As soon as the Doors closed, the Millennium Stone shattered and fell into the earth, taking the Millennium Items with it. We all thought that the voice was Bakura again—the evil one, of course—but that couldn't be, because you defeated Zorc already for one thing, and for another, the Millennium Ring was gone…"

Yugi trailed off, his confidence waning as worry and regret crept into his heart once more. His gaze returned to the bedridden Pharaoh. The aforementioned monarch was staring up at his partner in a flabbergasted silence.

"The…the Doors are closed…and I'm alive…"

The boy grimaced even more. "I'm sorry, Atem. I know you wanted to go back. I know you wanted to see your friends and family again…and…you deserve to. You've worked so hard." He bit his lip and dropped his eyes, looking as if he was suddenly holding back tears. "You deserve to rest after all this time. I'm sorry."

The astonished look on the Pharaoh's face melted with each word from Yugi. "Aibou…"

Yugi sniffed hard, refusing to show tears. His little round face worked itself into another stoic look. "We didn't know what to do at first. All of a sudden you had a body, and not just that, but you wouldn't wake up." His brow creased again with that ever-present worry, but he plowed on in his story. "You had an awful fever, and you kept moaning and turning in your sleep…you must have been in terrible pain…" The boy's stubbornly stony countenance cracked, soaking with pure empathy. He glanced at Atem's face, saw the Pharaoh's intensely curious, fixed look, and then abruptly looked, away, seeming desperate not to show weakness. "Kaiba offered to fly you to his hospital to make sure you were okay—"

"Kaiba?"

The sudden interruption in his narrative made Yugi blink, but he smiled slightly; surprise at Kaiba's charity was unsurprising. "Yeah…he said he wanted to make sure you were healthy enough for that rematch he's been waiting for."

A matching smile appeared on the Pharaoh's face. He would have shaken his head had he not been lying down. "Kaiba…"

The little smile faded away from Yugi's lips as he continued. "Kaiba owns a hospital, a special high-tech center for patients that baffle normal doctors…but even Kaiba's specialized doctors were baffled…They said you were in perfect health."

Atem had to raise an eyebrow at that one. "And how long have I been unconscious again?"

Yugi half-grimaced, half-smiled ruefully. "Almost a month, actually…Kaiba's doctors said—this was weird…" The boy chewed on his lip, his violet eyes falling to his feet. "They said it was as if your body was…brand-new. As if you had never suffered any of the normal wear-and-tear of just…living."

"Hm." The thoughtful noise from the Pharaoh brought Yugi's eyes shooting back up to his face. "That actually makes some amount of sense…assuming that, somehow, I now have a body of my own, and that this fact has something to do with that voice—and the pain—we might conclude that whoever the owner of that voice is somehow created a brand-new body and attached my soul to it…or materialized the container around my spirit…" He trailed off, exhaling deeply.

"But why?" Yugi's confusion was more than just that—he lurched forward with a sudden, grieved passion, his eyes holding a terrible hope for something selfish and a sorrow for that greed. "Who would want to keep you from seeing your friends and family that badly? And if they hate you that much, then why—"

Yugi cut off suddenly. He had just noticed that Atem's eyelids were starting to droop, and that the Pharaoh's breaths had already started to even out as his fever-wracked body prepared for sleep.

"I'm sorry," Yugi abruptly amended, the apology catching in his throat. "You still have a temperature. I should let you rest."

"Aibou…"

"Get well, okay?" That cool hand returned to the fevered forehead. Atem closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Aibou," the Pharaoh muttered. "You're suffering because of me…again."

Yugi shook his head, smiling ruefully even though his partner couldn't see the gesture. "Don't say that. I'll always be here for you. I promise."

Atem's consciousness drifted away. He knew he wasn't alone. He was never alone.

Silence settled over the room, save for the sound of breathing. Starlight filtered in through the skylight, the tiny shafts of radiance only adding to the stillness.

Yugi sat hunched over on the bedside chair, back bent and scrunched over the Pharaoh's sleeping form. The boy took his friend's hand between both of his own, clasping the pale fingers as if letting go would bring Atem's death.

"Who would want to keep you in this world so badly…besides Anzu, and Honda-kun, and Jounouchi-kun, and me…I feel like…" The small shoulders shook. Two tears dropped onto the sleeping one's hand. "I feel like it was our wishes that did this to you…because we…because I…was too afraid to lose you. I…I never wished for you to suffer so much…I would never want you to suffer. That's why I volunteered to duel you…because for you to be free…I had to let you go." Yugi sniffed as he dragged his wrist across his face.

"You shouldn't be sorry. It's me who's the sorry one. I've always held you back…but now…"

Yugi Mutou sniffed hard. He looked up, eyes suddenly filled with the light of determination, a light that was only made brighter by the tears lingering there. He squeezed his partner's hand.

"Whatever happened…whoever's responsible for putting you in pain like this…I'll make it right. For you, my other self. For you, Atem."

Under sleeping eyelids, violet eyes moved.

_Aibou…_

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I'm fairly new to the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom, just to let you know…please don't eat me…heh…Constructive criticism is always welcome, though! 

As I'm sure you've noticed, for this fic I'm using the Japanese names of the characters, not the 4Kids English dub adaptations. Téa Gardner is Mazaki Anzu, Tristan Taylor is Honda Hiroto, and Joey Wheeler is Jounouchi Katsuya. Keep in mind that Japanese surnames are listed before given names, thus, everyone actually calls Jounouchi and Honda by their surnames. Jounouchi's given name is rarely even mentioned in the Japanese, and if it is, only by himself, and the only time I've seen Honda's given name was in Season 0 when his mother was yelling at him.

Also, in the Japanese version, Yugi calls Yami/Atem "Mou hitori no boku," which I believe translates to "another me," but I use the term "my other self" because (in my personal opinion) it sounds more eloquent in English. For the most part, Atem calls Yugi "Aibou," meaning "partner," in the Japanese version. To my knowledge, Atem only calls Yugi by his name once in the Japanese, during their fight with Pegasus, unlike the English version where he calls him by name all the time.

I wrote the rough draft of this whole first chapter in my NOTEBOOK. (Craziness. I never do that.) That means a hard copy actually exists of this whole 5-pages-in-Word document. It is so CRAZY that I actually had the time to WRITE it all out. I write at about one fifth the WPM that I type.

So would you, the readers, categorize this chapter as angst, or fluff? Heh. Seems like every time I try to write fluff it comes out as angst…'cept this time I wasn't really trying for either. The whole chapter just sorta spewed out of my fingers while I was helping to judge a Speech and Debate tournament yesterday. The OSCL league is disorganized enough that sometimes I had two hours between rounds…it's a darn good thing I bring my notebook with me everywhere, ne?

Oh yes, one more note: This is NOT intended to be Yaoi. I don't have a problem with yaoi and am actually a fan of several yaoi pairings, but I just don't see Yugi and Atem's relationship that way.

Yes, more chapters ARE coming! I'm toying with the notion of switching to Kaiba's POV for the next one…what IS it about attitude-ridden teenage boys that allows me to get inside their heads? Srsly. 'Course, if I narrate with Kaiba, that means eventually I'll HAVE to have him and Atem duel…which I'm nervous about, because I really DON'T know Duel Monsters well enough just yet to give that fight justice. Whaddyou think?

Thank you for reading!


	2. Unbeliever

**Disclaimer:** Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Monsters were created by Kazuki Takahashi. No profit is gained by the writer for the posting of this fan-fiction; it is for entertainment purposes only.

**Author's Notes: **Iger refers to Robert Iger, the president and CEO of the Disney Corporation. Jobs refers to Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. and former owner of Pixar Animation Studios. When Kaiba talks about Jobs "bowing" to Iger, he's referring to the buyout of Pixar by Disney.

"Nii-sama" is a respectful way of saying "Big Brother" in Japanese.

"Jii-san" is a somewhat informal way of saying "Grandpa."

Sugoroku is Yugi's grandfather's name in the Japanese version. Isono's name in the English dub is Roland; he's one of the suits who work for Kaiba.

No one has been able to give me a satisfactory translation of "Bonkotsu," but it means something akin to "idiot" or "moron" to my understanding. It's also my understanding that Kaiba refers to Jounouchi by nothing else.

* * *

_Ring. Ring._

Blue eyes glared down at the telephone from under brunette bangs, daring the device to continue its persistent annoyance.

_Ring. Ring. Ri—_

Seto Kaiba seized the receiver and pressed it to his ear.

"What?"

"Kaiba-sama, another message from Iger-sama…"

"Isono. Didn't I already tell you to give my answer to that man?"

"Yes, Kaiba-sama…but…this wasn't about the proposition. Iger-sama wanted to know if you would join him for a more…casual get-together. A sporting event, perhaps. He said he was eager to have you meet his wife and daughters."

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "His family? Really."

"If I might say so, Kaiba-sama…I would take him up on that. It's not a good idea to make an stranger…or an enemy…out of the CEO and president of one of the world's most powerful corporations…"

"I know that, Isono," Kaiba returned. "A 'casual get-together,' huh? Sounds doable. Check my schedule. And make sure not to book anything ridiculous; no basketball or American football."

"Yes sir. Should I check Mokuba-sama's schedule as well?"

Kaiba froze with his finger over the phone's release button. "Say again?"

"Iger-sama requested that this be a 'family' event. He said it would be good to meet your family, Kaiba-sama…"

Kaiba's brow furrowed in disgust. "I know what this is," he spat. "Iger's going to parade his wife and daughters in front of me, to try to use them as a tool in order to get what he wants, and a shield to hide his true intentions. What is _wrong_ with these Americans? They talk about 'family' as if it were a religion; they use the concept of family in their political campaigns and now their business negotiations, but really all they're doing is trying to _tell_ people what a family should be! Fools! I will _not_ use my brother as a pawn or a shield, do you understand me? If Iger wants to try to get his fingers into the Kaiba Land franchise, he'll have to go through _me _directly, and I've already made it clear that that's not happening! I will not bow to Iger as Jobs did! This 'casual get-together' will _not_ happen."

"As you say, Kaiba-sama."

Kaiba slammed the receiver into its cradle, lips twisting in distaste.

His eyes flickered towards the digital clock next to the phone. 11:59.

Frown still fixed on his face, Kaiba pulled a stack of papers towards him and began leafing through them.

A knock sounded on the door just as the clock's numbers flickered to 12:00.

"Come in."

"Seto-sama."

Kaiba looked up, eyes meeting the sight of his younger brother timidly opening the office door. "Mokuba."

"It's noon, Seto-sama."

"Yes, I see that."

"I was…wondering if you…wanted to…maybe step out for a while…I haven't seen much of you lately."

"I've been very busy," his older brother replied matter-of-factly. He returned to the stack of papers and began thumbing through them.

Mokuba's eyes fell to the carpet. He idly picked at a thread on his shirt, becoming increasingly embarrassed. "I know that," he answered quickly, and then, as if the sound of his own voice gave him confidence, he looked up at his older brother and moved further into the office. "But I think it would be good to go _out_ for lunch. Just for a change. What do you think, Nii-sama?"

Kaiba's eyes, normally cool and unaffected as a frozen pond, looked up from his papers and melted just a bit when they rested on the face of his kid brother. For a long moment, he simply regarded Mokuba in silence, struggling with the question of whether or not to let the boy's admiring, mournful look pierce his heart.

The young executive closed his eyes, pushed his chair back from the desk and stood, planting his hands on the polished oak. "I suppose it couldn't hurt this once," he affected coolly. "But nothing messy. White Armani suits don't grow on trees."

Mokuba's face spread into a smile, his eyes lighting up like a meadow under a swift sunrise. He nodded enthusiastically. "Don't worry, Nii-sama. I know just the place."

* * *

The only sound in the air was the soft, content purr of the limousine's engine, but even though no words were exchanged, Mokuba was clearly brimming with delight. The boy was repeatedly tapping his feet on the limousine floor, looking out the window and grinning, and looking over at Kaiba and smiling, simply basking in the fact that his brother was near after so long. The aforementioned brother sat silent in the seat across from him, arms folded, gazing out the window with idly contemplative eyes.

Kaiba blinked.

"Mokuba. What is this place you have in mind?" Kaiba's icy eyes turned on his brother. He arched an eyebrow as the boy tried and failed to suppress a devious smirk.

"We have an errand to run before we get lunch," Mokuba answered matter-of-factly, though a knavish twinkle in his eyes gave him away. "I'm doing you a favor, Nii-sama. Any good investor sees his investments through, right?"

"Since when did I invest in middle-class real estate?" the young man said, glancing at the neighborhood rolling by their car with disdain. "Mokuba, where are we going?"

"Oh, this isn't a real-estate investment. It's a medical one."

That lone eyebrow crept up Kaiba's face again. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm sure you remember a certain peculiar patient that was admitted to Kaiba Corp.'s medical facility about a month back, right?" Mokuba couldn't contain the grin anymore; it spread toothily across his face. "This particular patient was _quite_ a memorable one, even for the doctors—they said he was in perfect health, when he clearly wasn't!"

Kaiba's eyes widened. "You don't mean—"

"I sure do, Nii-sama. I've received word that he's awake now." The devious grin shrank, slowly replacing itself with a serious, contemplative expression. Mokuba lowered his eyes. "We need to figure out what happened, Nii-sama. Now that he's getting better, we should ask him." The boy's eyes rose again to meet his brother's. "Besides…if you ever want to duel him again, like you said you did…"

"Of course I do," Kaiba nearly snapped. "I already said I would."

"Then we need to make sure he's okay…Nii-sama, we're the only ones who can help."

The look on Mokuba's face gave Kaiba pause. It was that mournful look again, that sad, pleading look soaked with admiration, compassion, and the longing for acceptance.

Kaiba closed his eyes again. That look was so hard to escape; had he been one to take to such fanciful notions, he could have sworn that it was still hammering at his brow even with his eyes closed.

Hard as Kaiba was, he still wasn't immune to his little brother. His voice was softer as he spoke, the sharp edge slowly bleeding from it. "You've been calling them, haven't you."

At first, Mokuba looked at his feet, feeling as if the question was a reprimand. But he soon looked back up again, wearing a rueful grin. "Every other day."

"Hmph."

The brothers were spared from another long stretch of silence as the limousine purred to a halt. The voice of the driver issued from the front seat. "We're here, Mokuba-sama."

"Ah. Thank you." The younger of the Kaiba brothers didn't wait for the driver to come open the door for him, but opened the door and stepped onto the curb himself. His eyes wandered upward, tracing the odd shape of the building with the word "GAME" stamped across the façade.

Mokuba turned, holding the door open for his brother and giving him something akin to an imploring look. "Coming, Nii-sama?"

There was a pause and silence from Kaiba. "Mm," he finally uttered affirmatively, joining his brother on the curb and closing the limousine door.

_Ding._

Mutou Sugoroku jolted as the bell signaled that a customer had opened the door to his shop. He hurriedly (but not without the utmost care) scooped the contents of the countertop into his hands and stashed it under the register before the incoming customers could catch a glimpse of it. After all, he had to keep them a secret—if anyone, muchless one of the many game fanatics that naturally frequented his store, knew that the three Egyptian God Cards were still around, they'd try to steal the cards in a heartbeat.

"Welcome, customers! How can I help—" Sugoroku's words caught in his throat.

"So you're still alive, are you old man?"

"K-Kaiba!" Sugoroku gasped, boggling. "Wh-what—er—um—welcome…?"

Mokuba appeared from behind his brother's coattails, smiling warmly at the old man. "Good afternoon, Jii-san," he greeted with a wave.

"Mokuba-kun!" Sugoroku smiled in relief as he saw the other Kaiba brother. "That's more like it! Welcome, welcome! I see you, uh, brought your brother…?" Sugoroku peered up at Kaiba's cold face with more than a few ounces of suspicion. Despite all that had happened between his grandson and the young executive, _kidnapping_ was something that didn't exactly go unremembered.

"Mm," Mokuba nodded affirmatively. "Um…we were wondering…"

"Yes! Yes, you came to see Atem-kun, right? He's upstairs. Everybody's here, so watch that Yugi's little bedroom doesn't get too crowded now." The old man chuckled to himself.

Kaiba blinked at the use of the Egyptian name. He frowned. Yugi was Atem. Well, half of him was, anyway. The half that Kaiba had maintained such a fierce rivalry with actually had nothing to do with the boy named Yugi, but rather, the soul of a long-dead Pharaoh named Atem. The concept was still too wild to believe, but Kaiba _had_ to accept the name. He had _seen_ Atem, after all, had seen the Eye of Wdjat separate one soul from another as they stood before the Doors of the Dead.

And he had known all along that there were two sides to the boy named Yugi. It had always been painfully obvious that the little wimp could never measure up to the _true_ King of Games, the Pharaoh himself. What was hard to swallow was that all these years, it had really been a separate consciousness, and that that consciousness had once been cousins with a Seto who looked remarkably like himself…

Kaiba banished the thoughts from his mind, as he always did when he caught himself wondering too much. The past didn't matter. The only important thing was the future.

"If the room is too crowded, it's your fault, old man," Kaiba answered, not sparing Sugoroku so much as a glance as he swept past him, headed for the stairs. "Seeing as you're the one who pays the rent."

Mokuba gave a long-suffering, disapproving frown at his brother's back. "Nii-sama…" However, he uttered no more complaint than that as he followed up the stairs in his brother's shadow.

Sugoroku scowled. "Impudent young punk," he muttered under his breath. "I don't pay rent, I _own_!" He snorted through his mustache.

The sounds of voices drifted through the door and onto the landing. Two could distinctly be heard: a higher, boy's voice, and a somewhat deeper voice, that of a young man.

"That takes care of your bishop. Check."

"Ah. Good one, Aibou. But it looks like you didn't watch your queen closely enough. Check."

Kaiba's eyes widened. Chess?

Almost before realizing it, Kaiba turned and glanced at his brother. Mokuba was already looking up at him with the light of nostalgia in his eyes. He, too, was remembering the days the two of them spent playing chess, as if nothing else in the world mattered…

Kaiba turned back to the door, opening it abruptly without knocking.

"Bwah!"

Before Kaiba had even gotten the door all the way open, he could already tell that some idiot, startled by the intrusion, had fallen off of a chair and thudded onto the floor. That idiot turned out to be Jounouchi, whose legs were now dangling over Yugi's desk chair while his head and neck met at an odd angle on the floor.

Kaiba snorted. "Graceful as usual, Bonkotsu."

Three simultaneous gasps of, "Kaiba!" sounded in the air as Anzu, Honda, and Yugi each turned, wide-eyed, to see Seto Kaiba, resplendent in his snowy-white business suit and looking every bit the executive that he was, standing at the doorway to the humble suburban bedroom. Yugi straightened from where he had been hunching over a chessboard and froze with a black bishop chess piece in his hand as his violet eyes rested on Kaiba. Honda had been lounging on a beanbag chair in the corner; he sat up abruptly, leaning forward to gawk at Kaiba. Anzu had been standing by the bed; she turned towards Kaiba, but not sharply enough to betray that she was startled. Anzu's movement allowed one more person to get a view of Kaiba. A face almost identical to Yugi's, but older, harder, and calmer, peered silently at the executive from where the owner of that face had been and still was, sitting up in bed.

"Hm." Without a word of introduction or apology, Kaiba swept across the room and stood at the bedside, right next to Anzu, looking down at the chess board spread out across Atem's knees. Yugi was sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed, facing his double, but still gawking up at Kaiba. Silence reigned over the room.

One sweep of the board with icy eyes later and a scoff emerged from the executive. "Atem has you on the run, Yugi," he commented lazily. "You should give up now, or you'll lose both your knights in the next two moves."

Yugi balked, eyes shooting back down to the chessboard. "What?!" he lamented, frantically searching the board for the proof behind Kaiba's prediction.

Atem closed his eyes as he smiled. He didn't say a word; to do so would confirm his strategy, and he had no intention of giving Yugi that edge.

"Ah…it's good to see you, Kaiba…" Anzu smiled politely up at the young man, trying her hardest to be cordial despite his egregious violation of _everyone's_ personal space. "I have to ask, though…what occasions the visit…?"

"Anzu! What're you_ talking_ about?!" Jounouchi had finally recovered by this time, and was now standing by the fallen chair, red-faced and huffing partly because of being stuck upside-down and partly because of pure consternation. "It's _never_ good to see this arrogant punk! What _are_ you doing at Yugi's house?! You're not welcome here!"

"Jounouchi-kun," Yugi said placatingly, turning to give his best friend a pleading look. "Don't say that. It's fine for Kaiba-kun to come here." The teenager looked up at Kaiba, smiling ruefully. "We haven't seen you in a while, Kaiba-kun. How have you been?"

"Fine," Kaiba answered bluntly. "Mokuba dragged me here. I didn't want to come at first, of course—I can only imagine what my contemporaries would say if they caught me in a dump like this—but then Mokuba reminded me that I have an investment to oversee here."

Yugi, Anzu, and Honda all shared silent, flabbergasted looks between Kaiba and Mokuba, whom they had all just noticed skulking in his brother's shadow. (Jounouchi was far from silent, but his retorts of, "How dare you call Yugi's house a dump!" went completely ignored by Kaiba.) Atem, however, only looked into Kaiba's face, wearing a shadow of a smirk. "An investment?"

Kaiba looked down at Atem. Blue eyes met violet, each set pushing against the other with an unwavering will, echoing the rivalry that had continued for years.

"As I'm sure you remember, you and I still have to schedule a rematch."

The Pharaoh nodded. His shadowy smile grew just a hair.

"I won't get as much enjoyment out of wiping the floor with you if you pass out in the middle of our duel. That's why I intend to see to it that that glassy, fevered look in your eyes goes away and stays away. It's shameful, seeing the King of Games bedridden like this. To be honest, the sight of you in such a state disgusts me, but Mokuba's driver wouldn't be dissuaded from coming here."

Yugi stared up at Kaiba, a wide-eyed look of wonder on his face. Was the cold-hearted executive, in some small, remote way, showing _compassion_? "Kaiba-kun…"

"Atem-san." Mokuba's voice piped up from behind Kaiba, breaking the silence that had settled inexplicably over the room. Kaiba shifted to allow his little brother to peer at the Pharaoh from between himself and Anzu. "We'd like to know…what exactly happened in Egypt. We know that you've been sick, but we don't know how…"

"Yeah," came Honda's quiet voice from the corner of the room. "It's not every day that a disembodied spirit gets his own body out of nowhere."

"Mokuba-kun." Yugi shifted his eyes up from the chessboard, fixing Mokuba with a stare that was half quiet determination, half compassionate gratitude. "You've been calling almost every day now…and I thank you for that."

Mokuba nodded, smiling slightly.

"But we all really would like to know…if there's anything else you could tell us…you said that your hospital was running some tests…"

Jounouchi had gone silent and complacent, putting himself at the foot of the bed so that he could get a good look at Mokuba. Honda had moved to stand beside him. An expectant silence filled the air.

"Well…I haven't really been able to look into it…I don't really have any connections at the hospital…that's Nii-san's domain."

As one, six pairs of eyes shifted to fixate on Seto Kaiba.

"Well." Apparently unruffled by suddenly becoming the center of attention, Kaiba folded his arms, glancing at each of the people assembled around, and sitting on, Yugi's bed (except Jounouchi, whom he stubbornly ignored as always). "Looks like we all have some information to share. Let's start with what we _know_, shall we? We'll move on to Atem's story later, as that will certainly move to the realm of fairy tales."

The shadow of a smile that had been playing at Atem's lips finally revealed itself, and the Pharaoh shook his head. "Kaiba…" His exasperation carried a touch of long-suffering, amused tolerance.

"Here's what we had to start with: The soul of Atem here has been squatting inside Mutou Yugi's body for several years. Somehow, Atem is a Pharaoh that should have died over three thousand years ago but didn't. These things can't be denied; there's too much evidence to support them."

Kaiba was fully prepared to plow over everyone's astonishment that he had actually_ admitted_ to the existence of something supernatural, and plow on he did, much to Jounouchi's consternation, who had already opened his mouth to let fly an obligatory quip. He snapped his mouth shut with a scowl as Kaiba continued.

"Then in Egypt, the soul of the Pharaoh is released from Mutou Yugi's body, but before Atem can actually walk through the doors, he has to be defeated in a duel. A stupid rule, but we'll ignore that for the moment. So Yugi beats the Pharaoh in a game of Duel Monsters by the skin of his teeth. I wouldn't have believed that a wimp like Yugi could do it had I not seen it myself. Which brings us to the important moment. Atem is defeated, the doors open, and he's about to step through them and leave forever—denying me my right to a rematch—" Kaiba added with a slightly venomous glare at the Pharaoh in question, "—when suddenly, some loser who thinks he's a ventriloquist tells Atem that he doesn't get to leave."

Atem didn't seem ruffled by the fact that Kaiba was referring to him in the third person even though he was sitting right in front of him, but at this point the Pharaoh's eyes widened ever-so-slightly. "So you heard that, did you?"

Kaiba raised an eyebrow at his rival. "Thought you were hallucinating, did you? Is that a recurring phenomenon for you?"

Atem's eyes narrowed again, leaving the realm of astonishment and coming closer to a glare, but before he could speak Jounouchi cut in. "Just get on with it already."

Kaiba did so, picking up his narrative as if Jounouchi wasn't even present, muchless that he had said anything. "And so the Pharaoh screams like someone's ripping off both of his arms, and falls to the ground, unconscious. His friends valiantly rush to his aid—if he were conscious I'm sure some friendship speeches would have ensued—to find that their spirit friend is no longer a spirit, but a living, breathing lump of flesh just like the rest of us."

"Then Bonkotsu here, ever the observational genius, asks the assembled crowd if anyone _else_ saw the weird red lightning flickering around Atem's feet while he was screaming. We all humor Bonkotsu by actually_ answering_, yes, we saw it too."

"Well I had to make sure!" Jounouchi answered irately. "And how many times have I told you not to call me that?!"

"But red lighting or no red lightning," Kaiba continued, once again seamlessly steamrolling Jounouchi's protests, "that still doesn't explain how the intangible becomes tangible. So partly out of a desire to prove to you people for the last time that all of these illusions and fairy tales are nonsense, I take it upon myself to investigate the matter. Checking Atem into the Kaiba Corporation Special Treatment Unit was only part of this."

This time, it was Yugi who interrupted the narrative. "You were investigating?" he said, wide-eyed. "What'd you uncover?"

"I'm getting to that, Yugi," Kaiba answered icily, shooting a cold look down at the boy. Yugi blushed slightly and looked away, muttering something about asking Kaiba to please continue.

"But first, like I said, we'll stay with what we all know. We all know that the doctors at the KCSTU, despite keeping him for a week and a half and running all kinds of tests, didn't find anything wrong with our Pharaoh here, other than the fact that he was persistently unconscious, running a fever of around 41, and mumbling occasionally like he was having some _really_ interesting dreams."

At once, all pairs of eyes in the room came to rest on Atem. The Pharaoh blinked at their questioning looks. "I don't remember," he answered their unvoiced inquiries. "If I _was_ dreaming, I lost it all. My memory stops when I fell before the doors, and starts again right here." He touched the bedspread with an index finger, indicating that _here_ meant precisely the spot he was sitting on.

"So the result of all this," as Kaiba spoke again, the room's attention once more shifted to him, "is that we have a spirit who suddenly becomes flesh, who then falls to a virulent illness, and no explanation as to_ why_. Now as I mentioned before, I wasn't about to simply call it Fate or Magic like you people do. Ridiculous notions like that have no place in this world."

"I started by trying to track down the owner of that voice. A ventriloquist from the shadows muttering vengeful words just as the subject of their hate undergoes an uncanny transformation is no coincidence. Whoever that guy was, he was either responsible for what happened, or knew that it was coming, thus that he was in league with those responsible."

"Ishizu and Marik Ishtar offered me help plenty of times—having been present at the event in question, I didn't blame them for being curious as to what happened—but all of their suggestions involved researching some magic nonsense or another. I refused to fund any of it; they have their own resources and can handle themselves just fine, if that's the kind of garbage they want to pursue."

"They did present an interesting theory, though, and that is one of a Created Body."

"Ah! You mean like a clone or something?" Honda chimed in, grinning at the fact that he had finally made himself part of the conversation.

Kaiba afforded him a nod. "Precisely. An artificially-created form. A body engineered from a test tube, from playing with genetics. I'd say that that's the shell you're wearing, Pharaoh."

"Eh?!" Jounouchi grimaced. "So what, Atem is Yugi's clone? But…wait…we kind of already knew that…"

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "No more comments from the Peanut Gallery, Bonkotsu," he drawled icily.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING—"

"My theory," Kaiba went on, trouncing Jounouchi's rants and speaking directly to Atem now, "is that someone wanted to keep you in this world badly enough that they went through the trouble of cloning Mutou Yugi. Then, they predicted a moment when they'd best be able to trap you in that body—in other words, the moment when you were finally freed from Yugi's body. They knew in advance that you would be in that temple, and through the use of some kind of illusion—smoke and mirrors or what have you—concealed their clone in the spot where they knew your spirit would have to pass: right before the Doors. Now the science that attached your soul to that new body is beyond me, but whatever it was worked, as the results are sitting right before me."

Atem said nothing. His eyes remained fixed on his knees, his expression shadowed as his head was lowered.

"So that means that: one, your enemy hates you enough that they want to kill you themselves; two, that they have an immense amount of resources or else they'd never be able to even think of a cloning project; three, that their intel is so incredible that not only have they probably been following your every move for years, but they knew the_ only_ place where your spirit would finally be on its own; and four, that they're _incredibly_ smart, because only a superb brain would be able to invent a technology to seal flesh with spirit."

"Unfortunately, that list of qualifications makes this shadowy ventriloquist rather impossible to find. People with that kind of money and power have the money and power to make themselves completely unknown to the world. It's like trying to catch a shadow with your bare hands."

"Ah…" Mokuba finally made himself known again, his soft, sad voice covered by a slight smile. "So that's why Nii-sama has been so busy lately…"

"I think there's some holes in your theory, Kaiba."

Anzu's quiet voice rang with a stony intensity so profound that every eye in the room locked onto her in surprise.

"First of all, we have to consider that you don't believe in magic." She looked up at Kaiba, holding up one finger to emphasize her first point, her blue eyes meeting his with a sharp, perceptive intellect that easily rivaled his own. "As such, it's more than likely that Atem's new body was created by magic, not science. Your 'smoke and mirrors' comment sounds like a cop-out to explain away what you refuse to acknowledge as fact, and that's that magic not only exists, but is involved in this situation."

Atem finally looked up, his gaze locking onto Anzu. Astonishment seemed to have overtaken his eyes. He knew that she possessed an inner strength that was as unshakeable as the earth itself, but he could only recall a few instances where he had _ever_ seen her eyes radiate such stoic, profound intensity.

Yugi, too, seemed blown away by Anzu's quiet counterargument, for his own eyes bulged as he fixed his gaze onto his childhood friend. Her voice contained a note that sounded even akin to a _threat_; it was a note that said she had stayed silent and accepted Kaiba's nonsense for the _last_ time. Something about Kaiba's words had struck a nerve.

And she was far from done. "What happened to Atem happened far too quickly to be anything _but_ magic. He was spirit, and suddenly he wasn't. Things don't just flicker into existence unless magical forces are involved. There's no way some mad scientist pulled a cloned body out of a _stone floor_ and used mirrors to conceal it. That's completely crazy."

"But you're right about a few things. There's no way this could have happened unless whoever did it _knew_ we were going to be in that temple. It was an ambush they had probably been setting up for, as you said, years. That means either," Anzu put up another finger for each of her options, "One, that somebody _has_ been following us around for all these years, biding their time for a chance to destroy Atem, and, having gotten wind of our journey to the temple, set up the trap almost as soon as we exited the Memory World; or two, that whoever did this simply knew that eventually, Atem would have to make his way to that Temple, and when he did, he'd be vulnerable."

"Well no one could have been following us; that's nuts!" Jounouchi suddenly butt in, throwing his hands up as if to declare that the whole _world_ had (once again) gone completely nuts. "We'd have noticed!"

"You give yourself too much credit, Bonkotsu," Kaiba droned.

"No, Jounouchi's right," Honda added. "We've been in some _really_ tight spots. And by tight I also mean narrow. Plus, there've been times when we've had some crazy and amazing magic on our side. There's no way we could have had a shadow all this time without realizing it."

"Or," Kaiba returned, his drawl becoming darkly suggestive, "you have a mole in your midst."

"_No._"

This time, it was Yugi's intensity that silenced the room and drew all eyes to him. The short teenager was glaring at Kaiba with every ounce of force his little form could muster, which was deceptively quite a lot.

"None of our friends would ever betray us. That's not even a possibility. Don't even_ say_ things like that, Kaiba-kun."

Atem's astonishment stayed put, slowly carving his face into a completely new countenance. Every line was drawn back, every curve opened, as the windows of a dark room are opened to admit light and air into a place that, having been in the shadows of solitude for so long, desperately needs it.

_Aibou…Anzu…everyone…_The thought wouldn't finish. It drifted around in his head, lost in the incredulity.

Kaiba stared at Yugi for a moment, just as surprised as every other person in that bedroom. However, before his gaze could give away too much, he shut his eyes and shrugged, "hmph"ing as he crossed his arms.

Anzu smiled at Yugi, nodding in agreement. That was right. That sort of thing wasn't even up for _consideration_. "Which means that the second possibility is more likely." That earth-shaking, profound intensity was back, radiating out of her blue eyes in scores. "That there is someone out there who not only hates Atem, but who has been waiting in the Temple of the Millennium Stone for him to try to enter the Underworld for years. Maybe ever since Yugi solved the Millennium Puzzle. Maybe even longer…since Atem sealed himself _inside_ the Puzzle, three thousand years ago."

A long silence settled over the room. The profundity of that statement weighed heavily on each person's heart and mind, causing them all to lower their eyes in thought.

"Three thousand years."

The Pharaoh's voice, quiet though it was, remained enough to draw the six others in the room out of their respective reveries and turn their attention to Atem. Each pair of eyes reflected that they suddenly realized that the focus of this conversation had barely said a word during the whole thing.

Jounouchi and Honda suddenly wore looks of badly-hidden shame, each of them glancing away as if something shiny had caught their attention, but slowly giving in to the shameful fact that they _were_ ashamed and returning their attention to their friend.

Mokuba's look was one of pity, almost of the same brand he afforded his big brother whenever Seto did or said something reprehensible. It was a look that understood that the person before him was experiencing a pain of some sort, but that there was nothing he, Mokuba, could do about it except let the other express it in the only way he knew how.

Kaiba's look was a far cry from his brother's, but the icy, unconcerned gaze melted just a bit as he gazed at his long-time rival. Of all the mysteries that Kaiba had come into contact with since meeting this young man, the most baffling, and easily the most fascinating, was the mystery of what went on inside the Pharaoh's head.

Anzu's look softened significantly, her solid determination bleeding away until her blue eyes held that same pity for Atem that they had held many times before: a reserved, hesitant sympathy, a mingled sense of longing to reach out and comfort him and the fear that he would never accept her if she did.

Yugi's look was the most profound as he turned his gaze back to his other self. As Yugi was the only one actually sitting on the bed _with_ Atem, the look on his face reflected that closeness. He gazed at his other self as if they were the only two in the room. The teenager wore such bare, open-faced, heart-wrenching sorrow and empathy that had any of the others looked at his face, they might have thought it a wonder that Yugi didn't burst into tears simply on his partner's behalf. Yugi's lip trembled with the accumulated sorrow, guilt, and confusion he had been wrestling with every minute for the past month.

"Three thousand years," the Pharaoh repeated, not looking at any of them. "Someone has hated me for three thousand years and wanted me dead since then. It's not surprising to hear that, really. It's not the first time that it's happened." His head lowered even more as he hoped to shadow his expression from his closest friends, hoped to spare them from what he held inside. "And it's not the first time I've gotten all of you involved. This was supposed to _end_. It was supposed to have ended with the Ceremonial Duel. I was supposed to have passed through those doors and ended all of this."

As one, Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu, and Yugi opened their mouths to protest that statement, but also as one, they each realized that nothing they could say would ever dissuade the Pharaoh from his desire to protect them, or from his sincere belief that merely being around him was a danger to their lives. The pain on each of their faces deepened, but they remained silent.

"Everyone…really, I…I can't thank you enough." Atem finally raised his gaze, and it was clear even to the most oblivious that he was keeping his emotions on a short leash, stuffing them all away behind his eyes. He put a small smile onto his lips. "Without you, I would have never gotten my memories back. Not just that, but you've been there with me through thick and thin…through everything. There's no way I can put into words my thanks for your friendship and loyalty."

Jounouchi grinned uncertainly, but as he was wont to, his eyes betrayed his true emotions, remaining crinkled with sorrow even as he forced a laugh. "Well sure! I mean, what did you expect? We're your friends!"

"That's right!" Honda chimed in, as he was also wont to do, shutting his eyes as he grinned so as to hide his emotions behind them. "We'd never do anything less!"

Atem's smile grew warmer as he looked up at Jounouchi and Honda. "Yeah." A forced-sounding half-laugh escaped him. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The tentative mirth shared between his two friends did not rub off on Yugi. The boy's eyes remained fixed on Atem's face growing, if anything, more pained and more sorrowful. He knew exactly where this was going. He knew what his other self was going to say next…but he also knew that he had to let Atem say it.

"But…" As soon as Atem's gaze dropped back down to the bedsheets, Jounouchi's and Honda's smiles vanished. Their guard began to fall away, each young man's face becoming more open until the lines and sinews of their countenances threatened to bare the whole of their hearts to the room.

"I can't put any of you in danger any more." The young monarch's face began to harden. "This won't be like the other times. I can't just let you talk me into letting you get yourselves involved in this."

"What are you saying?" Anzu's voice broke in; she pulled back just after speaking, having lurched forward without thought. Her tone, too, was reined in as she tried unsuccessfully to suppress the notes of grief coming from it. "You can't just expect us to abandon you, can you? You know we can't do that. You know that!"

He didn't look at her. "Anzu. I've decided. I'm solving this one on my own. I'm not making the same mistakes I did before. I'm going to protect you all, this time."

"No!" Yugi had finally cracked. He did what he had been holding himself back from doing every moment for the past month—he launched himself forward and smothered Atem in a hug. The Pharaoh's eyes widened in surprise as his other self suddenly latched onto his neck. "Don't say that, Atem—my other self—don't say that!" The boy's tears rolled freely into the shoulder of the pajama shirt Yugi had lent for his partner to wear. "If you try to face this alone, we'll _really_ lose you! You'll—you'll—I—" A sob choked him before he could utter more.

Atem's stony gaze softened into peat as he looked down at Yugi. "Aibou…" He placed both slim hands on the boy's shoulders. "I can't let you get involved in this one. Think about it. It's like Kaiba said: this enemy is one that not only holds an incredible malice, but he must possess an immense amount of power, be it monetary, magical, or both—more power than anyone we've ever faced, in order to do the things he's done. We can't afford to be reckless. We underestimated Pegasus, and he took Jii-chan's, Kaiba's, and Mokuba's souls. We underestimated Marik, and he wrought all that horror with the Shadow Games. We underestimated Doma, and they took _everyone's_ souls…including yours." Atem's face darkened and hardened once more as he suddenly relived the horror and guilt of losing his other half. "And I underestimated Bakura…_twice_. Once, three thousand years ago, and he nearly destroyed the world. And once just a few weeks ago…and he nearly destroyed the world _yet again_."

The Pharaoh used his hold on Yugi's shoulders to gently push the sobbing boy up, to be able to look him in the eye. Yugi relented his death-cling on Atem's neck, looking up at his double with a pleading, tear-stained gaze.

"Aibou. Everything that happened has been because of me. Everything has been _my_ fault, _my_ responsibility. So I'm taking it out of your hands. I'm taking responsibility for my mistakes."

Seeing that familiar, mountain-moving, determined look on Atem's face only made the tears flow faster from Yugi's eyes. "At—no, no, my other self, _my other self_, I need to tell you—I'm sorry—but I'm just so afraid to—to—"

Anzu grimaced, putting a hand to her chest and biting her lip. She squeezed her eyes shut, knowing what was coming next, because she felt the same thing herself.

Honda closed his eyes and turned away, clenching his fists at his sides. He knew what was coming too.

Jounouchi's head was bowed, his fists making clumps out of his shirt. His hands were trembling. He, too, saw it coming.

Atem didn't let him finish. He knew, too. He squeezed Yugi into a hug, clutching at the boy as if for dear life.

The motion didn't really surprise anyone except Yugi himself. His eyes flew wide open, suddenly stopping the tears from coming.

"I know." Atem's voice was muffled in Yugi's shirt, and only Yugi could really hear the emotion contained therein. "I promise you, that no matter how afraid you are to lose me, I'm twice as afraid to lose you. And I'm not going to lose you again."

Kaiba turned away, silently, without so much as a disdainful glance or a sardonic quip of his lips. No one seemed to notice him move, except his brother, who stayed in his shadow as he crossed the room, opened the door, and silently made his exit.

He didn't need to see this. It was a moment he was not part of, and had no desire to be a part of. It was a moment he never wanted to see, and hoped never to see again.

Suddenly, the inner workings of the King of Games seemed just a little less mysterious. Kaiba told himself that this was because of his sharing a body with Yugi all these years—the sensitive young boy had changed the Pharaoh, making him softer of heart, just as the Pharaoh had changed the timid young boy into a more confident young man.

But as disappointed as Kaiba was, some part of him knew with certainty that he never _would_ see this sight again. Atem would never again show it. A person like Atem didn't bare his heart on a dime, nor wear it on his sleeve. All this had proven was that Atem _could _feel, that he was human, just like anyone else.

Kaiba ignored Mokuba's soft inquiry of, "Nii-sama?" as the two descended the stairs of the Mutou household. At his brother's silence, Mokuba trained his eyes on his shoes, his expression falling.

"Oh, leaving so soon?" Sugoroku closed a box that he had sitting out on the counter, stashing it once more as the two Kaiba brothers reached the landing and entered the shop. The old man didn't seem too unhappy at the prospect of having Seto away from his premises, though his glance at Mokuba revealed that he thought just the opposite of the youngest Kaiba.

Seto hesitated. He looked at Sugoroku sidelong for a long moment before finally turning to bear his heavy gaze down upon the old man.

"You should watch your back," he said, not as a matter of threat, but as a matter of fact. "Your friend the Pharaoh has a very dangerous enemy after him. This new life he has was only given to him so that it could be taken away. I can almost guarantee you that whoever is after the Pharaoh's life knows where you live, knows where Yugi and his friends go to school, where they hang out on the weekends, where they go to buy groceries. If you have any hope of protecting yourself or your grandsons, I would advise you to make yourselves scarce."

Seto Kaiba then swept out of the game shop, Mokuba in his wake.

Mutou Sugoroku gawked at the young man's retreating back. It wasn't the fact that Kaiba had actually seemed _concerned_ for his safety and for the safety of his family that astonished him, and it wasn't that Kaiba seemed to know much more about this new foe than he, Yugi, or any of his friends had so far guessed.

_Grandsons…grandsons plural…Kaiba called Atem my grandson_.

Sugoroku turned to the stairwell, looking up at the direction where Yugi's room lay. A smile wobbled onto the old man's face.

_Well, he is. He is indeed, there's no need to deny it. I just didn't expect someone like Kaiba-kun…even Kaiba-kun… to see…_

Grinning embarrassedly, Sugoroku wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

_Edit 3/9/08:_ The Pharaoh was running a fever of around 41 Centigrade (Celsius), which is about 106 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm sorry I missed that detail earlier...I completely forgot that the whole WORLD besides the United States uses the Centigrade scale for temperature.

_Edit 4/2/08:_ I changed all the "five thousand years" mentions to "three thousand years." I've learned that the difference in 2,000 years is really a difference between the English and Japanese canon. I'm going to continue to make the Japanese anime the basis for my canon in this fic, but I'll try to throw elements of the manga in there, and the manga DEFINITELY states that Atem lived 3,000 years before present-day.

Holy craaaap that was long. Heh. I just went to TOWN on this one. Why am I able to write these characters with almost no pre-planning when I feel I've only just met them?

Speaking of which, all you gurus of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Fandom: Please, please, PLEASE tell me if I'm playing ANY of these characters OOC, especially Kaiba! I really tried my hardest, at times merging what I imagine to be tendencies of both the English and the Japanese dialogue in my mind and hoping to hell that it all came out for the best. Please slaughter me with reviews if that's what it takes—I want to get this right!

Yes, I used the CEO's of Disney and Pixar as indirect characters in the chapter. So I use references to real-life people, wut? Heh.

Oh, and if my lousy attempts at using Japanese are way too lousy and lame, PLEASE don't hesitate to say so. Thankies.

Dayum, I think I did a little overkill on the trite similes…really, my prowess in the art of metaphor is better than this…

Dewd, I actually wrote this whole thing in ONE DAY…even though I spent all day on it…even writing during work…Mah brain ish spinning. I'm breaking all kinds of personal records with this fic.


	3. Ray of Hope, Act of Love

**Disclaimer: **I think that by this time, my readers probably grasp the fact that I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! and gain nothing but enjoyment from writing and publishing this fanfiction. To reiterate that fact, I believe, would be to just further betray my jealousy of the fact that I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh. (And particularly Atem. Wait. Did I say that?) Yes, I am jealous. Curse you, Takahashi!

* * *

_Let's see…oranges are fairly cheap right now…could use some bread, but it's more expensive and I don't have much…a loaf would last me longer than fruits…_

"Um, excuse me…Young Man?"

_If this continues, I might have to pick up an odd job just to feed myself…by Amun -Ra, how would that work out? I wonder what job skills I could put on a resume…_

"Young Man?"

_I could always enter a Duel Monsters tournament; I'd certainly be qualified for the ones that award prize money…but no, I should lay low for a while, otherwise I'd be putting Aibou and Jii-chan in danger…_

"Boy with spiky hair!"

Atem turned away from the fruit stand, blinking wide-eyed at the woman trying to get his attention.

"You dropped this."

She handed him a little black address book, only about the span of a hand, bound closed by an elastic string.

"Sorry to shake you out of your daydream, Young Man," the middle-aged woman half-teased. "But it looked to be something that you wouldn't want to just leave lying in the street."

Atem took the book, turning it over in his hands. It was Yugi's address book; somehow it must have fallen out of the small backpack slung over Atem's shoulder.

"…No…indeed not."

"You might want to keep better track of your things, Young Man," the woman continued, though her motherly tone was offset by her slight smile. "Especially something like that. Phone numbers are precious gold, you know. They keep you tied to people you once knew, and people you still love."

His violet eyes shot up to meet hers, a flicker of astonishment overtaking them.

Before he could speak another word, the woman offered him one more smile and turned to leave. "Good luck with your shopping, Young Man!" she called over her shoulder, and then was lost amongst the crowd.

_She's gone_, he mused, _just like that. _

His gaze drifted back down to the address book in his hand. He undid the elastic string holding the book together and leafed slowly through the pages. The mid-afternoon shoppers crowding the street parted to flow around him, as if he were a rock in a stream.

_People I still love…_

His eyes drifted over an entry marked, "Jii-chan's Cell Number" that was crossed out, and a note added by it, "Jii-chan lost his phone." Atem turned a few pages. There was Anzu's number, written in pencil in a sloppy hand, as if Yugi had scrawled it many years ago…as if it were the first number ever entered into this little book.

He turned a few more pages.

_People I once knew…_

The Pharaoh's eyes widened as he spotted one number in particular. "No way."

Atem snapped the book shut with one hand, hitched the backpack higher up on his shoulder, and struck off through the crowd. He wove through the masses with a determined dexterity, overtaking the slow and sidestepping the heedless.

_It's the hand of Fate. It has to be. Random strangers don't say things like that on a chance._

He finally spotted a phone booth. The crowd in this part of the street was thinning out; he picked up his pace, walking briskly towards it.

_I think…it might have been exactly what I needed to hear…_

Once he had closed the door of the phone booth behind him, he flipped the little black address book open to its previous page. Atem pulled a few coins from his pocket, slipped them into the payphone, and hastily dialed the number.

It rang once, then twice. Impatient fingers drummed on the glass wall of the phone booth. A third ring sounded.

"…Hello?"

"Valon."

There was a pause from the other end. "…Who is this?"

It was Atem's turn to pause. "It's the Pharaoh."

The pause on Valon's end was one of surprise. "Really?" He sounded amused. "The Nameless Pharaoh, calling _me_? How'd you get this number, Pharaoh?"

_I borrowed Aibou's address book off of his nightstand, figuring I would need it_. Atem nearly cringed. Even inside his own head, the justification held no ground; it sounded like thieving. "I got it from Yugi."

"Hm." Another pause came from Valon, this one seeming as amused as his tone. "So what occasions the call, Nameless Pharaoh?"

"I do have a name, actually." The rebuttal wasn't offended or self-righteous, but merely spoken out of fact. "It's Atem."

"Atem! Wonderful. But my question stands."

"Otogi and Jii-chan contacted you, I'm assuming?"

"Yep. So you can imagine my surprise; I honestly thought you'd be in the Underworld by now. Not that it isn't good to hear from you." That mildly amused, slightly sarcastic quip didn't leave the man's voice. "But yet again, you're avoiding the question."

"I'm getting to it. What did they tell you?"

The amused edge began to bleed away from Valon's tone, replaced by a slightly suspicious one. "Was there something I wasn't supposed to hear, or are you just curious so that you don't have to repeat things I already know?"

"The latter."

There was another pause. When Valon spoke again, his level, even tone carried a certain crispness of formality. "Mutou Sugoroku said that his grandson Yugi and the Nameless Pharaoh were journeying to Egypt in order to regain the Pharaoh's memories and to bid him farewell for his final journey."

"…That's all?"

"That was the gist of it." The casualness had returned to his voice. "So are you going to answer my question now?"

Atem exhaled a deep breath, trying to reign in his impatience. "Aren't you at all curious as to how I'm still here?"

"Not really, as I figured you'd enlighten me anyway," Valon returned immediately. "And it probably has something to do with the answer to my question, no?"

The Pharaoh blinked, then let out another breath, wondering why he was at all surprised at that sort of response. This man was formerly one of the Three Swordsmen of Doma; there was no reason to expect anything less than bludgeoning directness and razor-sharp perception.

"Indeed it does. Well, the story is thus: Aibou and I got to Egypt and located the place where I was able to regain my memories. The process turned sour when a third party transformed it into a Shadow Game."

"Hm." The thoughtful noise from Valon was more amused than sympathetic.

"But we overcame the Game, and I eventually regained my own name again. Once the ordeal ended, we journeyed to the resting place of the Millennium Items, where the Doors to the Underworld awaited."

"And let me guess: Here is where it gets complicated."

"Indeed. In order for Aibou and I to separate, the Doors of Wdjat decreed that I had to 'lay down the sword'."

"Really." Valon sounded genuinely intrigued now, almost as if he knew what was coming next.

"Which meant that I had to be defeated before I could pass into the next life."

"So your Aibou beat you in a Duel?" His voice was genuinely surprised, despite its ever-blasé quality.

"He did." This time, it was the Pharaoh's voice that was touched by a smile.

"And then what happened?"

"The thing that I called to ask you about."

"Ah." The tinge of amusement grew in Valon's voice.

"It's true that I separated from Aibou when we stood before the Eye of Wdjat. But as I was only spirit inside him, I was only spirit outside, too. Yet just after our duel ended, someone gave me a body."

An astonished silence choked up the connection. "Someone just _gave_ you a body. Who? How?"

"That's why I'm calling."

"Ah-ha."

"Whoever it is, we know that they're an incredibly powerful mage, an incredibly powerful scientist, or both; that they somehow knew that the Doors of Wdjat would be the place that I would one day enter the Afterlife, which means they have an abundance of resources and powerful means of gathering information; and that they're someone who hates me intensely." He paused, letting the weight of his words hang in the air. "Sound like anyone you know?"

This time, the silence between them stretched into infinity.

"You're thinking it was Dartz."

"I'm thinking that you used to be part of an international organization possessing untold economic, scientific, and magical power, and that having been in that position gives you knowledge that no one else would have."

"Essentially, you want me to help you track down a man who sounds remarkably like Dartz."

"Yes."

"You know Pharaoh," a small chuckle escaped the man, "you could have just said that right away when I asked you why you called."

A small smile curled onto Atem's lips. "But you wouldn't be very inclined to fulfill that request if you didn't know what it was for, would you?"

"I'd be rather curious, and perhaps suspicious, yes," Valon conceded, his blasé drawl holding quite a bit of amusement now.

"So…will you help?"

Valon let another silence hang in the air. Atem tried to keep his fingers from starting up another impatient drumming session.

"My issue was never with you; you know that."

"…I know." _You hated Jounouchi. And it wasn't even hate _against_ him…it was only because…_

"One condition."

"Name it."

"You help me find Kujaku Mai."

Atem blinked, eyes widening slightly. _So she's missing…she does do that, doesn't she? Jounouchi will want to know where she is too…I'm sure if she's been missing since I've been out of commission, he's been worried…_

"Done."

"Then I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you, Valon."

_Click._

The young Pharaoh felt a knot of tension unwind in his chest as he let out a long sigh and set the receiver down in its cradle. For a moment, his violet eyes stared at and past the telephone, the storm of impatience and indecision within them having receded into calm.

His mind's eye flickered back to the woman on the street, and her smile as she had handed him Yugi's address book.

_People I once knew…I have a lead now. I have something. I have hope._

The image in his mind's eye flickered to a boy who looked uncannily like himself, but with shorter stature, a bigger smile, and kinder eyes.

_People I still love…_

Atem's hand tightened around the little black address book.

_I was wrong. I shouldn't have left. I want to keep Aibou, Jii-chan, and everyone safe, and since I'm the target, if I'm away from them, it should keep them safe…but…it isn't right. That woman was a sign; I can feel it. I can't just leave like this; I can't just take Aibou's belongings and steal away when everyone is still at school, when Jii-chan's busy with the shop…not when there's even the slightest chance that I can put an end to this. That I can put an end to the danger…without running away_.

Atem opened the door to the phone booth. His eyes rose through the sky, following the clear, arching blue vale all the way to its zenith without passing over a single cloud.

_I was wrong. I wasn't keeping you safe by leaving—I was running away. And I can't do that. I won't._

Eyes fixed on the horizon, face hard and set with determination, the Pharaoh made his way back into the streets.

* * *

_Ding._

Mutou Sugoroku looked up as the door to the game shop opened. Rather than call out his standard greeting to customers, the old man just smiled knowingly.

"…I'm back, Jii-chan."

"Welcome back, Atem-kun."

"I, uh…" Atem offered a bulging paper shopping back and an uncertain smile. "I brought back some groceries."

"Oh? Let's see then."

The young man crossed the shop and set the bag on the counter in front of Sugoroku. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes seemed unable to meet the old man's face.

"Oh, what lovely oranges!" Sugoroku pulled one orange from the bag and smelled it, inhaling deeply in delight. "They must be in season!" He replaced the orange and brought his gaze up to the younger man's face. The knowing smile returned. "Thank you, Atem-kun."

"…You're welcome, Jii-chan…" Atem let out a short sigh, feeling the other's gaze peer right through him. Atem had snuck out the back door while Sugoroku had been busy with customers, hoping to keep his exit under the radar and minimize the hurt for those he was leaving behind. Despite the offering of oranges, Atem knew full well that he wasn't fooling Sugoroku. The old man knew the _exact_ reason why the young Pharaoh had vanished earlier that afternoon.

Atem brought his eyes up to Sugoroku's face. "Jii-chan…I'm sorry. I—"

The older man held up a dismissive, silencing hand. "There's no need, Atem-kun. You thought you'd be keeping Yugi and me safe by drawing the enemy's line of fire away from us, yes?"

"Yes…that's what I thought, but…" He closed his eyes, lips twisting in disgust, obviously meant for himself. "It felt too much like running away. I didn't have a plan. It was a foolish move and I'm glad I realized that early on."

"Mm." The old-timer nodded sagely. "Of course it was foolish. It was an act of love, Atem-kun."

_That_ caused the Pharaoh's eyes to widen. "Act of…"

"Was it not your caring for Yugi and me, and for all of your friends, that drove you to leave? You acted rashly out of the desire to protect, which stems directly from your feelings." Sugoroku's smile widened a bit. "Because of that, there's no need to apologize. I understand your intentions."

A small smile made its way to Atem's face. "Thank you, Jii-chan."

The old man nodded. "Now." He crossed his arms, expression suddenly turning stern. "Go into the kitchen. I'll meet you there shortly."

Atem blinked, smile vanishing. Wait a moment…hadn't Jii-chan just said that everything was forgiven…?

But the old man had already vanished up the stairs before Atem's befuddled expression could lodge a formal complaint.

Blinking bemusedly, the young man gathered up the bag of oranges, exited the shop through the door behind the counter and made his way to the kitchen. He set the oranges down on the counter, un-slung the pilfered backpack from his shoulder and set it on the table, then sat at the table himself.

It only took Sugoroku another couple of moments to appear. His expression was as closed and stern as a locked door, and his arms were once again folded.

"Say ah."

Atem blinked. "Huh?"

"No, not 'huh,' 'ah.'"

"Ah…?"

Sugoroku whipped out an electronic thermometer and practically jammed it under Atem's tongue. "Bite."

_I guess I deserved that_. He complied. "Mrrmph."

"You should be more careful, Atem-kun," the old man scolded, though he couldn't manage to keep a smile completely off of his face. "It's only been four days since you first woke up."

"Mm frmm," Atem conceded.

"You need to take better care of your body. You only get one, you know."

The Pharaoh's gaze fell. _Actually, this would be my second…my first body was long-since buried under the sands of Egypt…_ The thought, though by no means an illogical notion, sent an inexplicable shiver through him.

"If you don't take care of yourself, you'll end up like me: old and falling apart!"

"Mrrm frm, Gmm-gnn."

"Keep your mouth closed or the reading won't be accurate."

"Mm mm," Atem protested.

"Don't talk back to me, young man. Mouth closed."

"Yng mmnn? Mm gnn rrm—"

"Yes, 'young man!'" Sugoroku huffed. "Three-thousand-year-old Pharaoh or not, you're still a young man! You don't have any memories of the time you spent trapped inside the Millennium Puzzle, do you?"

Atem blinked, pausing at the unexpected question. "Nn."

"Then you _are_ only a young man. You simply fell asleep in one time period and woke up in another. Look at you! You haven't aged a day since your time as the Pharaoh, yes?" Sugoroku looked at Atem down his nose, arms crossed imperiously.

"….Hn, gnnt—"

"No buts, and keep your mouth closed!" the old man reminded. "Listen to your elders, Atem-kun. I may not have fought any ancient wars like you have, but these old eyes have seen many more winters than yours." The reprimanding tone and look in his eyes softened, and Sugoroku unfolded his arms. "Be sure to take good care of that body of yours, Atem. Regardless of how you got it, it's yours now, and you have a responsibility—both to yourself and to the people you care about—to take good care of it."

For a long moment, Atem merely stared up at the man he called his grandfather in silent wonder. At last, he nodded.

_Beep._

"Here, let me have that." Sugoroku took hold of the thermometer.

"Bah." Atem readily released the device and made a face. "Not the most pleasant of tastes."

Sugoroku chuckled. "Nothing like the bitter tang of plastic to remind you that you're mortal, eh? You're welcome to one of those oranges, of course."

As Atem stood and moved to claim the first of the fresh oranges from the bag, Sugoroku frowned over the digital readout on the thermometer. "It's 37.9. Still too high." He shook his head. "Not high enough to make me glue you to the bed, mind," the old man added, looking up at Atem with a slightly knavish twinkle in his purple eyes, "but too high for you to be running all over town. You still need to take it easy, Atem-kun."

The young man looked up from attempting to coax the peel off of his orange, given pause by Sugoroku's words. He smiled, then nodded.

_I won't make you worry anymore_.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

_Edit 4/2/08:_ As with the previous chapter, I changed all references of "five thousand years ago" to "three thousand." I've learned that the discrepancy in 2,000 years is really a discrepancy between the English and Japanese versions.

37.9 Centigrade equals about 100.2 Fahrenheit.

This chapter is much too short. I fail at life. Hopefully the next chapter will make up for it…I was going to add another POV to this chapter, but my muses ended up convincing me to keep it consistently from Atem's point-of-view. Hence, it's only about the length of the first chapter, and not anywhere near the length of Ch. 2.

Holy crap I can't believe I just said that…This chapter is 10 pages and that now falls under the category of "short." Did I mention I'm breaking all kinds of personal records with this fic?

Once again, if any lines of dialogue or even the slightest action betrays any OOCness in any character I use...please don't hesitate to jump down my throat! Please, I NEED the constructive criticism if I hope to continue this fic to its completion! Also, like last time, feel free to rip me a new one if my use of Japanese honorifics gets on your nerves, or, heaven forbid, is incorrect.

Uwah…I'm such a terrible person…I wrote this instead of working on the three arcs I owe my Imouto-chan, and instead of studying for my Intro to Shakespeare midterm next week. Yargh. And…since I can't exactly plea-bargain my way into a good midterm grade, I'll try the next best thing: trying to plea-bargain with my Imouto-chan to stay her much-deserved wrath because of my flakiness. (Did I mention I'm a terrible person?)

So, Imouto-chan, I dedicate this chapter to you, my only close-and-fellow YGO anime fan and Atem fangirl…it's just you and me, girl, all alone in the world. Yup.

But honestly, I was going to dedicate this chapter to you anyway, Imouto-chan, even before I realized I was being a total flake by working on **it **instead of the three arcs you want from me.

Peace offering? I wish I could use emoticons right now, I really do. Cause I'd have all sortsa expressions. Rawrgh.


	4. Surprises

**Disclaimer: **If Kazuki Takahashi didn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, then I'd be a Winged Kuriboh. Pssshaw.

**Public Service Announcement:** Do not ever watch Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Yugi only appears in the FIRST EPISODE, and Kaiba and Atem don't appear AT ALL. Just don't watch it. Just say no.

**Disclaimer: **This particular fanfic has _ABSOLUTELY NOTHING_ to do with Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. (Thank God.)

* * *

"Oi, Yugi!"

Mutou Yugi turned, smiling as one of his best friends came running out of the locker room to join him on the field. "Jounouchi-kun! There you are!"

"Oi, Jounouchi," sounded a slightly sarcastic voice from beside Yugi, "you keep up being late like this and Sensei's going to flunk you out of Phys. Ed. What's keeping you in the locker room for so long, huh?"

"_So_-rry, Honda" the blond snarked back, pausing between running and letting off sarcastic quips to catch his breath. "The lock on my locker is completely _busted_, actually, so how about you lay off, huh?"

"Suuure," Honda replied, drawing out the syllable to show that he _really_ believed that shoddy of a testimony. Really. "You're trying to sneak a peek at the girls just before they exit _their_ locker room, aren't ya? Eh? Eh?" Honda nudged Jounouchi with his elbow, waggling his eyebrows lecherously.

"I am not!" the blond shot back, batting Honda's elbow away with a growl.

"Jounouchi-kun, you pervert!" Yugi gasped, though his innocence was half-feigned; he knew that Jounouchi wouldn't stoop so low. Pornography wasn't below the blond, but he definitely was no peeping Tom. Yugi had trouble keeping the smile off his face.

"So _you're_ against me too now, huh Yugi?" Jounouchi lamented dramatically. "No one believes me!"

"OI! You three! Hurry up and get over here! Roll call's starting!"

Each of the boys instantly stiffened. "Yes Sensei!" they found themselves calling out in unison. They trotted over to join the rest of the boys' Phys. Ed. class seated cross-legged on the blacktop, shooting each other grins and trying to stifle laughs behind their hands.

The roll call settled into its familiar routine, with each of the boys in the class calling out their last names in the same practiced, alphabetical order they had used since the beginning of the semester, while the teacher marked on his clipboard for each student that was present. Of course, everyone knew it when there was a student absent, as the rest of the class would impatiently wait for a long, silent stretch for the missing student to call out his name. The teacher would look up, scowl at the class, mark an X on his clipboard, and call out, "Next!" Thus, the role would continue.

There seemed to be an unusual number of students absent that day, which meant that role-call was far slower than usual. The long stretches of silence while the teacher and other students attempted to figure out if the missing name was really absent, or just spacing out and missing his turn, worked to break down the whole class's attention span. Thus, the instructor had to pause the roll call several times to bark at his class to settle down and pay attention.

Such a disruptive atmosphere was, of course, perfect for conversation, and like any sane and normal teenagers would, Yugi, Jounouchi, and Honda took full advantage of it.

"Oi, Yugi," Jounouchi leaned over and muttered to the shorter boy, while Honda, sitting behind the two of them, leaned forward to listen. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to drop by and visit lately."

Yugi nodded, smiling sympathetically to his friend. "That's okay, Jounouchi-kun. I know you've been busy lately."

"Heh…yeah…" Jounouchi smiled self-consciously, his honey-colored eyes briefly flickering away from Yugi with veiled embarrassment. "So…how is Atem doing lately?" His gaze returned to Yugi's face as he posed the question.

This time, it was Yugi's eyes that fell to the blacktop. Despite his efforts to contain it, a tinge of worry entered them. "Well…he's been doing better…he's been up and about a lot in the past few days, even though it's only been a week since he first woke up…"

"Well that's good, isn't it?" Honda chimed in, sticking his head between the two. He gave his smaller friend a concerned look. "What's wrong then, Yugi?"

"I'm not sure; that's the thing…" Yugi trailed off, looking at his feet. The worried look crinkled his eyes deeper. "My other self…he's been oddly secretive, shutting himself away to make long phone calls…I'm afraid he's doing what he said he would, and taking this whole burden on himself, trying to solve this mystery without endangering any of us…"

"You're afraid he's going to up and leave, aren't you." Honda's perceptive look and low tone made his words more of a statement than a question.

"Mm…" Yugi nodded affirmatively. "I asked Jii-chan if he knew anything about what my other self is up to, and he just told me not to worry. I'm really afraid that he's only sticking around because he doesn't have any solid leads yet…and as soon as he gets one that could tell him who's responsible for what happened in Egypt, he's going to just leave without telling us…"

"It wouldn't be the first time." Jounouchi's look was as grave as Honda's. "He tried it once before, remember? After the whole Battle City tournament was over, he grabbed the three God Cards and was on his way to the museum to take a peek into his Memory Stone, and we had to skip class to catch up with him. He just up and left during school. That would have been the last time we saw him if that whole crazy thing with Doma hadn't started."

"Mm," Yugi affirmed again. "He said back then that saying goodbye to everyone would have made him too sad, so he was content with just me seeing him off." The boy shook his head.

"I wouldn't worry so much this time." Honda placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder, giving him an encouraging half-smile. "A lot has happened between then and now. If Atem _did_ want to leave us behind, I think he'd give us a good reason first. And how do you even know his being secretive is because he's getting ready to head out? Maybe he just doesn't want you to worry."

"Honda's got a point there," Jounouchi chimed in. "Atem knows how much it means to you to figure this thing out, Yugi. He probably doesn't want you to get your hopes up if his leads don't turn up anything."

Yugi sighed heavily. "You're both probably right," he admitted. "But still—"

"Mutou! Jounouchi! Honda! Are you three deaf?! The class has been waiting for you to finish our roll call for a good ten seconds!"

The three boys stiffened as their teacher barked at them. "Present!" they found themselves calling out in unison.

Stifled laughter rippled through the rest of the class.

* * *

"Whew…glad that's over…"

Another period of Phys. Ed., another period of nearly getting pelted in the head by tennis balls. Anzu let out a sigh as she twiddled the combination dial on her P.E. locker to get inside.

It wasn't that she herself was _bad_ at tennis. Phys. Ed. classes over the years had given her plenty of experience at the sport, and years of practice and experience in dancing made Mazaki Anzu more than a fair athlete. Her problem, sadly, was not _her_ problem, but that of Arai Ayumi, a new transfer student to their class.

"Narrow miss this time, right?" The girl at the locker next to Anzu smirked as she changed, recalling the latest episode of the fiasco that had become their Phys. Ed. class.

Anzu sighed again. "It _was_ pretty close, Rei-chan," she admitted, "but Ayumi-chan didn't do it on purpose."

"One has to wonder," Rei returned, a bit of a mean glint in her eye as she glanced at Anzu again. "You know her tennis-ball-missiles aren't random. She only shoots them at the girls who are friends with cute guys in our class. Like Yugi-kun. Or Jounouchi-kun."

Anzu blanched, looking over at Rei in slack-jawed incredulity. "Jounouchi?! You can't be _serious_, right?!"

Rei giggled. "Hey, I'm not saying _I'm_ attracted to him or anything—ew, just ew—but Ayumi-chan seems to have an eye or two on that one. And I'll bet she thinks she's chasing you out of her territory so she can stake her claim on him."

Anzu's sigh was half a scoff this time. "I told you already, Rei-chan, it's just a problem with her aiming. She doesn't really know how to send the ball _to_ someone rather than _at_ them. Her mind needs a more solid target than just the space in front of our shoes."

Rei scoffed loudly. "And I'd say your face and ribcage are some pretty solid targets, right? Seriously, Anzu, she's not fooling anyone, and neither are you by taking her side!"

Anzu gave a long-suffering sigh, folding up her P.E. clothes and placing them in her locker. "I really wish you wouldn't look for faults in people just to start up drama, Rei-chan," she said evenly.

Rei scoffed. "Well I don't have to look very _far_ in this case." She shut her locker door.

Anzu was about to follow suit, but something glittered within her locker, giving her pause. She reached inside and picked the object out, blue eyes widening as she realized what it was. She ran a thumb over the flat, silvery object, the chain trailing lazily over the back of her hand.

_It must have fallen out of the pocket of my sweater while it was in here...I was looking for this. It's been a week already…_

The shiny thing immediately caught Rei's eye, and she whirled, closing the distance between her and Anzu in a heartbeat or less. An excited, greedy look was on her face, like that of a rabidly enthusiastic collector or a gleeful kleptomaniac. "Ooooh, what's this?" she cooed, reaching for the necklace in Anzu's hand.

The dancer jerked away immediately, keeping her treasure out of Rei's snatching fingers. "Cut it out!" she said indignantly.

"It's so pretty!" Rei cooed. Her eyes went wide as saucers as a realization hit her. "Did someone give it to you? Who was it? Does Anzu-chan have a new _boy_friend?" She positively squealed at the notion.

"No, it isn't mine," Anzu returned levelly. "It belongs to a good friend of mine."

"With the way you're clutching it to your chest, I'd say he's _more_ than a friend!" Rei squeed. "C'mon, let me see it." When Anzu was less than forthcoming, Rei rolled her eyes and deflated in defeat. "I won't _steal_ it; now please, I just wanna _see_."

Reluctantly, Anzu showed the other girl the necklace. She kept a firm hold on the chain just in case while Rei fingered the silver, dog-tag-shaped necklace itself.

Now that she had the precious item in her hand, it didn't seem so exciting, as exhibited by the confused look Rei shot up to Anzu. "Um…what is it, exactly?"

Despite her disgruntlement, a small smile tugged at Anzu's lips. "It's a cartouche. The Pharaohs in ancient Egypt used to carve their names on them. The cartouche was like a sacred rope surrounding the Pharaoh's name in order to protect it. Names were very important to the Egyptians."

Rei blinked, thumbing the strange hieroglyphics adorning the cartouche. "So this is a name?" She immediately perked up again. "Whose name is it? Aw, Anzu-chan, that is so _cute_, getting your boyfriend this geeky little Egyptian thingie!"

She couldn't help it; a blush briefly colored Anzu's cheeks. Thankfully, she was able to yank the cartouche out of Rei's hands and turn away before the other girl could get a good look at her embarrassment.

"It's not just some 'geeky little thingy,'" she replied. Rei fell silent at her serious tone. "It's his name. Names are sacred, Rei. And his is Atem."

Now that she was back in her standard Domino High skirt and blouse, she had no pockets in which to store the necklace. Anzu clasped the chain around her neck, thinking that there was no safer place to keep it. Without even looking to see what Rei's reaction to such a sentimental gesture would be, Anzu picked up her bookbag and exited the locker room.

* * *

The second class period of the day was well under way. The teacher had started talking ten minutes ago, and the students were already furiously scribbling down the notes the instructor had been scratching across the chalkboard nearly non-stop.

Which was why, as a knock sounded on the door, nearly every student snapped their heads up as one.

The assistant principal of Domino High opened the door without waiting for an answer. He smiled at the teacher in a simpering, aloof way that tried to give lipservice to respect but clearly betrayed how much he flaunted his station over that of the teacher.

"Sensei!" the math teacher greeted crisply. "What can I do for you today?"

"So sorry for the interruption," he said, eyes completely insincere. "We have a new transfer student in this class today."

A wave of murmuring rippled across the classroom. Now that they had been shaken out of their studious reveries, the students were willing to embrace the interruption…and of course, transfer students were _always_ a juicy topic of gossip.

"We sure do get a lot of transfer students," Anzu heard Rei, sitting in the row behind her, whispering to one of her friends. "I wonder if it's a cute guy?" Anzu suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

Yugi, seated at the desk to the right of Anzu, caught the look on his childhood friend's face and shot her a sympathetic smile. She returned it with one of her own.

Jounouchi and Honda, ever in tune with the feelings and vibes of their closest friends, caught the look passed between the other two. Jounouchi sat in front of Yugi, and Honda in front of Anzu. The boys exchanged a look of their own. "Rei-chan's right though," Jounouchi muttered to Honda. "We've had our fair share of screwball transfer students."

Honda nodded. "Kaiba, though he doesn't go here anymore; that crazy game-show guy; Otogi-kun; Bakura-kun—"

"Students," the assistant principal addressed the class. The muttering ceased, and all eyes turned to the front of the room. "I'd like to introduce you to your new classmate: Mutou Atem."

Four jaws dropped at the sound of the name. Twenty-eight additional jaws dropped as the new student entered the room.

He was skinny and lanky, but held himself with poise and confidence that gave him a far greater stature than his extremely modest height should have allowed. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of a form-fitting pair of Domino High uniform pants, while his Domino jacket hung open to show a white button-down shirt stretched over a lean chest. His head was a mass of spiky hair, black rimmed with crimson-purple; blond streaks shot up from his scalp to join the tips of each spike; and chaotic blond zigzags of bangs framed his face. His violet eyes gazed out of that face with a look so bold, so cool, so confident and self-assured that he didn't even need his amused quip of a smirk to exude an aura that kept the students' jaws glued to the floor.

Atem raised one hand in greeting. "Yo."

The monosyllabic salutation seemed to have the effect of shaking the students out of their astonished trance. As one, looks of comprehension dawned over their faces. As one, the same thought crossed their minds—_He looks just like Yugi-kun_. And as one, twenty-eight pairs of eyes swiveled to fixate on Mutou Yugi.

Atem took this as his cue. "Yugi is my cousin," he announced smoothly, as both explanation and introduction.

"Cousins, eh?" the assistant principal mused from beside Atem. "Your name, Atem… that's not Japanese, is it?"

"Not at all," the newcomer admitted, turning to the administrator without missing a beat. "Our grandfather suggested the name to my father. Jii-chan has been fascinated with ancient Egypt his entire life. Atem was the name of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh."

The transfer student's speech was successful in drawing the class's attention away from Yugi and back to the front of the room, much to the relief of the smaller boy, who had honestly considered sinking under his desk in order to avoid the class's prying gazes. Anzu and Honda looked impressed—Atem had already come up with an alibi for both his uncanny resemblance to his other half and his uncanny name, an alibi that didn't stray too far from the truth, no less. Jounouchi, however, continued to look completely flabbergasted at Atem's very presence.

"Very well," the math teacher finally spoke up, obviously anxious to end this distraction and get on with his lecture. "Atem-kun, there's an open desk beside Yugi-kun. Take your seat and open your book to page 256."

The young man nodded respectfully to the teacher, though that amused quip of a smirk never strayed from his face. Despite every eye in the classroom fixed upon him, he sauntered over to the desk and seated himself as casual as you please.

The assistant principal nodded to the teacher. "Very good. I wish you all a nice day." He took his leave, closing the classroom door behind him.

Despite the instructor's apparent insistence on getting back to the lesson, half the class burst out into whispers.

"Atem-kun? Isn't that—"

"Yes, that's Anzu-chan's new _boy_friend!" At hearing Rei tittering with her friend, Anzu fought to suppress a flare of consternation and a flaring blush. She settled for turning to scowl at Rei, putting her finger to her lips and tilting her head towards the teacher. Rei pouted, obviously keener on gossiping than showing deference towards the instructor.

Jounouchi, seated on a diagonal to Atem, finally found his voice. "How—_why_—" he spluttered, apparently unable to comprehend the idea that someone could actually _want_ to come to school.

Before Atem could answer, the teacher made his irritation known once more. "Class, please settle down. Take a look at problem number 46."

A silence, save for the rattle of the instructor's voice, overtook the room, once more forcing the students to glue themselves to their notes. Atem merely shot Jounouchi a knavish wink. He then turned to Yugi, giving the boy a thumbs-up.

Yugi's eyes had been continuously glued to his other self from the moment Atem had walked into the room, wide with incredulous wonder. But as Atem gave him that thumbs-up, a wide, joyful smile slowly spread over the smaller boy's face. Elation spilled so readily from his eyes that he had to bury his nose in his textbook to keep from shouting in pure glee.

Atem, rifling through a backpack for the required textbook and some looseleaf paper, gave a chuckle.

* * *

Math had never passed by more slowly. The more that Yugi, Anzu, Honda and Jounouchi glanced up at the clock, the more the second hand seemed to drag as it ticked from one number to the next. Each of them was anxious beyond reckoning or reason to talk to their friend the Pharaoh, to question his sporadic and unexpected decision to enroll in a Japanese high school, especially when he didn't _have_ to, and _especially_ considering that he had considerably more important things to do. They each glanced at him almost as often as they glanced at the clock, trying to communicate through unspoken looks and gestures as long as the teacher's constant lecture prevented them from using words.

Atem, however, seemed happily absorbed in his work. He was listening to the lecture with rapt attention and taking copious notes, and all the while that slightly sardonic quip of a smirk never left his face.

At long last, the bell signaling the end of second period rang through the classroom. It was time for a fifteen-minute break before the start of third period. The students took advantage of it at once, breaking into conversation, getting up from their desks, or hurrying out the door to use the restroom.

Yugi and the bunch immediately scrambled from their seats, crowding around the Pharaoh with delighted, incredulous expressions. His name rang out in chorus between the four of them. Atem looked up at his best friends and smiled, chuckling in surprise.

"My other self!" Yugi chirped, using every bit of restraint he possessed to keep himself from tackling Atem in a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"I think we're _all_ curious about that one," Honda commented, smirking.

Jounouchi nodded vigorously in agreement.

Atem merely glanced down at his notes. "That was incredibly confusing."

Four pairs of eyes blinked, befuddled. Jounouchi's voice was the only one heard. "Wha…? But…you were so into it…?"

"It's true that I wrote down more or less everything the instructor said. But that doesn't mean I understood it. This material is definitely over my head." That amused smirk was growing now, becoming more of a smile than a quip.

"Well then…why did you…?" A comically befuddled look was painted across Jounouchi's face.

Atem shrugged. "It was a challenge," he said simply.

"Guess they didn't teach derivatives in ancient Egypt, eh Atem?" Honda commented, smiling a smirk of his own.

"Guess not." Atem's smile grew even wider.

Yugi sighed, though he couldn't have kept the sunny smile off of his face if he had tried. "You're avoiding the question, my other self."

Atem looked up into his partner's face, and as he did, the slightly knavish quality to his expression softened. "I'm not going to leave, Aibou. I figured this was the best way to let you all know that…and the best way to be near you all the time."

The honest, straightforward sentiment silenced all four friends. All of the questions on their minds dissolved and drifted away. Yugi smiled affectionately at his other self, and slowly, each of the others adopted their own version of the smile. Atem had been waiting quite a while to say that. They understood.

A brief silence stretched between the five friends. After a few long seconds, the silence became less comfortable and more awkward, until finally a spark of realization lit up Anzu's face.

"Oh—Atem—" The Pharaoh looked at her quizzically as she fumbled for something around her neck. Anzu pulled a necklace out of her shirt, where she had hidden it to avoid incurring unnecessary questions from prying classmates. She quickly unclasped the chain of the necklace, reached down, seized Atem's hand, pulled it towards her palm-up, and placed the necklace in it.

Atem blinked, a little startled by the suddenness and directness of Anzu's actions. Before taking a good look at whatever it was she had just shoved into his hand, he blinked up at her, puzzled.

Anzu saw the look and immediately gave a start. She immediately wondered _why_ she was acting so jumpy, then blamed the awkwardness of the previous silence for her sudden actions, and then berated herself nonetheless for violating Atem's personal space. She fought like mad to keep an embarrassed flush off her face.

Atem blinked down at the object he had been given. A jolt of shock enveloped his face. His gaze darted back up to Anzu's eyes, questioning and bewildered.

"Anzu, how—_when_—"

"I was keeping it safe for you," she answered. Speaking eased the burn of embarrassment within her. "If I remember right, you had it with you since we all exited the Memory World, but…when you got sick, I was afraid the hospital might lose it…"

"Oh?" Jounouchi peered at the necklace in Atem's hand. "Wait a minute, is that—it _is_!"

"It's what?" Honda leaned over to take a look as well. When he gotten a good look at the necklace, his eyes widened and he looked up, sharing a glance between Atem and Anzu. "You're not seriously saying that that's—"

"The cartouche!" Yugi chimed in. His eyes flickered from the necklace to Atem's face to Anzu's and then back again. "The one Anzu gave my other self right before he went into the Memory World! And it still has your name on it, Atem." Yugi looked into the face of his double, his expression torn between a smile and wide-eyed wonder.

Atem's expression, on the other hand, was purely wide-eyed wonder. "The very same one that you all carved my name into…simply by willing it." His voice was low, seemingly out of a desire to not be overheard by the rest of the students milling around the classroom, but truly because incredulous reverence. "It's very strange that the magic of that Shadow Game could carry over into the real world."

"Well if you think about it, it makes a little sense…" All eyes focused in on Yugi as he pondered aloud. "Because we didn't just call something into existence…and we didn't bring something from the Shadow Game out into the real world. We brought something from the real world _into_ the Shadow Game. Which was then acted upon by the Shadow Game's magic."

Anzu nodded. A graceful smile had settled onto her face. "I figured it was something like that. And now you can keep your name with you all the time…so you won't forget it again."

The Pharaoh's eyes traced the hieroglyphs etched into the silver cartouche pendant, memorizing the pictograms that spelled out his ancient name. He looked up at Anzu.

The girl blinked at his expression. Such a look of passionate gratitude was unexpected on the hard, unyielding face of a warrior king…

"Thank you." Atem clasped his hand around the cartouche, his eyes thanking her in ways his words never could. "Thank you, Anzu."

Those eyes pinned her. She didn't quite know what to do with this sudden bare, open expression of feeling…so she smiled cheerily. "You're welcome, Atem."

_His name means that much to him…_ Anzu turned her blue eyes away from the Pharaoh's face as he placed the cartouche around his neck. _He'd been searching for it for so long…I'm happy for you, Atem. And I'm happy we know your name at last, too…I'm afraid to say…I bought you that cartouche also because…well…I wanted your name for myself. I wanted to know, too._

The bell rang, signaling the end of break and the start of third period. Anzu nearly jolted, startled out of her thoughts by the sudden sound.

"Okay, class! Back to your seats!" The students looked towards the front of the room, each with a matching disgruntled expression. The history teacher was early today. It looked like they wouldn't have any more time to chat after all.

But the most important kind of communication doesn't exist in words. Yugi, Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu, and Atem all shared a glance, all shared a nod, all shared a smile—they all spoke the same thing to one another, conveying their oneness, their unity, their bond, in a way that words never could.

* * *

History dragged into Sociology. Sociology simply _dragged_. Every Sociology class, at least half of the students felt that mind-numbing nag of the sheer _closeness_ of the lunch period looming tantalizingly out of reach. It was maddening having to sit in a cramped, rigid desk, listening to the most monotone teacher on campus drone on about the curriculum's most boring subject, when food and freedom were only thirty short minutes away. Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight. Twenty-eight and a half. Stomachs rumbled, blood sugar levels dropped, and attention spans (or consciousnesses) drifted to the winds.

Yugi was anxious. At twenty-seven minutes till, he started making a conscious effort to keep his foot from tapping out a rhythm on the floor double-timed to that of the teacher's drone.

Anzu was drifting. She was trying to concentrate on the teacher, trying to take notes, but every minute and a half her pen would pause on a word as her mind wandered blissfully away, drifting across the whole mass of Asia to Egypt…drifting across the Pacific and the breadth of the States to Manhattan Island…

Honda was nodding. His eyelids seemed too heavy to hold up against the alluring pull of gravity, and his head, too, seemed too heavy for his neck. His eyelids, his head, or both, would sink, snap back up, and sink again in regular intervals.

Jounouchi was fast asleep. He had made absolutely _no_ effort to put on the illusion of paying attention to the lecture. His blond head was wedged in the crook of his elbow; his check was plastered onto the faux-wood of the desk by his own saliva. It was a miracle he wasn't snoring aloud.

Atem was in a bind. He was making a conscious, deliberate, steadfast effort to follow the lecture and take good notes, but his body seemed intent on betraying him. By twenty-six minutes till, lethargy had already seeped so thoroughly into his limbs as to permeate through his bones. His slim frame had become slumped in its seat, shoulders hunched, arms draped lifelessly over the desktop. Atem continued to stare at the blackboard, eyes stoically half-mast instead of lidded like Honda's eyes, though Atem had long since stopped reading the words scrawled in chalk.

His stomach rumbled. He cursed inwardly.

He knew that the feeling of irritability creeping through his veins was to be entirely blamed on a lack of food, but that didn't make him any less irritable. How could he do what he was supposed to do as a student—that is, focus and take notes and absorb information—if the information was presented in the _most boring way possible_?! This Sociology teacher should _never_ have been allowed to pass his college Public Speaking class.

Someone chuckled behind him.

Something about that laugh caused Atem to give a jolt. His eyes flew wide open. He snapped to attention, lethargy pushed away by a sudden flood of adrenaline.

He cast a look behind him. The whole class was littered with half-dead or half-mad students, all of them either slumped like he had been or darting hopeful glances at the clock. No one looked lively enough to be giggling like that.

Atem was not content to dismiss the sound as a figment of his imagination. Indeed, he would have been comforted had he seen some evidence that he _wasn't_ imagining things. He returned his gaze to the front of the room. His every nerve slowly awoke, going on cautionary alert.

The laugh sounded again, this time from his right side.

Goosebumps flared up, prickling across Atem's skin. His violet eyes, focused on the desk in an effort to avoid attracting attention from the teacher, bulged.

He _knew_ that voice.

The laughter sounded a third time. Atem cast a look around at the class once more. No one else had moved. No one else had been jolted from his or her stupor. No one else had _heard_ the voice.

Dread flooded his guts like icewater.

Words began to drift around his head, sounding faraway and ephemeral as if spoken through a fog, yet as close as if the speaker's lips were inches from his ear. The words were distinctly Egyptian, and eerily metered—a spell. Someone was chanting a spell that only Atem could hear.

More goosebumps shivered up and down his form. His hands began to shake, all of their own accord. He curled his fingers into his palms until the fingernails dug into the skin, then clenched his hands into fists.

"_Scared, are we_?"

Atem's head jerked up. He wasn't just hearing voices drifting from wherever. That voice was speaking _to_ _him_.

Yugi's anxious tapping ceased all at once. He saw the look of terror on his other self's face, and a look of worry overtook his own. "Atem?" he ventured a whisper.

"_If you're scared NOW, just WAIT till I get going_." That chuckle rang through the air again, the cold, soulless sound of it chilling Atem like an icy hand squeezing his heart. "_This is going to be fun_."

Atem's whole body gave a sharp jolt. He felt like he had suddenly fallen into a frozen lake. All at once, every drop of his blood turned cold. His lungs seized up and his vision swam.

Yugi jolted out of his seat as his other self suddenly pitched forward, eyes rolling to the back of his head. "Atem!" The entire classroom, teacher included, jumped about a kilometer and watched in astonishment as the smaller boy darted forward to catch his double.

Atem's breath came in short, labored gasps. He saw a blur of purple and blond—his Aibou, hovering over him, mouth working in panic, sound lost to the dimness—before a blanket of darkness was pulled over his eyes, smothering his mind into oblivion.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **For this fic, I spent THREE HOURS on SIXTEEN WORDS, looking up ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and translations and transliterations and grammar structure and STUFF and trying to piece together how to actually pronounce and Romanize a language that doesn't actually have any vowels…only to realize that I wouldn't actually be NEEDING that for this chapter. Oh. My. God. Ancient Egyptian is more impossible to piece together than the Millennium Puzzle. Seriously, I was bouncing back and forth from four or five different online resources, literally taking bits of one resource and sticking them with bits of another to try to figure out HOW these words can be Romanized. If anyone out there has actually STUDIED this dead language, feel free to correct me. Otherwise, I think I'll be okay, seeing as it's a dead language and all so it doesn't really matter in the end…ehehehe…whoa, is that my grey matter oozing out of my ears? Woooow.

But yeah. Anyway. Dead language-ness coming up at the start of next chapter. Promise.

Err...what does everyone think about the breaking-up of the chapter the way I did? I mean, **I** can see why I edited it that way...seeing as I wrote this chapter over so long a period of time, it came out of me piecemeal...but how do the hard line breaks in the narrative affect the flow of the story? Flow is really important to me...so I just want to be sure that everything's nice and intelligible.

And, uh…sorry this chapter took me forever…holycraplong. Yeah. Heh. XD Not as long as Chapter 2, but…still. Yup. Hope you enjoy. XD;

Oh, and in case it kind of threw you for a loop, the scene in the girl's locker room with Rei and Anzu changing was deliberately ambiguous and light on description. I think that putting too much detail into describing them at that point would have been not only counter-productive to the tone I was trying to establish with the scene, but extremely distracting from the dialogue I was trying to construct. Srsly, dialogue is my biggest challenge sometimes, and I try really hard to get it right.

Oh yes, and as always, beat me over the head with bricks/cinderblocks/DVD boxes if any characters are even a toe out of the in-character line, if at any time I make an error with Japanese culture and/or honorifics, or if there's some other detail you spot that seems out of whack. I mean, I'm not outright asking to be flamed—that'd just be stupid—but if I'm wrong about something, I'd really love you if you would tell me so. Keep in mind that a lot of my opportunities to write are when I'm not exactly at my peak of mental clarity, i.e. when I'm at work (Sin: Multitasking) or staying up all night pounding this out (Sin: Procrastinating. Sin: Not Getting Enough Sleep). So errors are BOUND to slip past my firstsecondthirdfourth passes at proofreading and editing.

Cheers!


	5. Riddles and Magic

**Disclaimer: **I said in a previous chapter that I curse Takahashi; it was out of sheer envy. Well I take it back. I take it all back. I'm sorry I cursed you, Takahashi-sama, because I have now bought, read, and re-read the whole Millennium World manga series. I love you, Takahashi-sama, I love you!

* * *

"_Ghn…_"

_Awareness flooded back to him as painful as a full-body ache, as if existence itself were a burden too heavy for any soul to bear. Flames leapt at the edges of his vision; a quick look around told him he was in an underground cave backlit by fire and accented by the looming shadows of tall, ominous pillars of rock._

_A chain jangled. He looked upward, realizing that his wrists were bound in that chain, a chain that, suspended in the rock ceiling, dangled his limp form about three feet off the ground. _

_He closed his eyes. Looking up was too much of a strain. His very vision was heavy, as if surrendering to the darkness of unconsciousness would be worthwhile…as if freeing himself of the burden of living would be worthwhile…_

"_Wakey wakey!"_

_A hateful voice grated at his ears. Atem didn't bother to lift his eyes again. He knew that the man was only there to ridicule him. Why else would he have such a malevolent tone against one bound like a prisoner?_

"_Poke, poke. Wake UP, Pharaoh! The fun's just starting, you know."_

_Two painful jabs caught him in the ribs, drawing a gasp from Atem. He let his eyes fall shut. Looking up was too hard. Breathing was becoming hard, too._

_The voice hissed in his ears, seething with malevolent glee. It was malice made sound; it was comprised of evil so audible that Atem thought he could feel its taint wriggling through his skin and poisoning his blood._

"_This is only the beginning. You thought you had your happy ending in sight, didn't you? Fool of a Pharaoh. Happiness was denied to you, is denied to you, will forever be denied. Your soul was cursed from the day you were born. Your blood carries a murderous legacy, and despite yours and your kin's pleas to the gods, you will carry that curse for all eternity. I shall see to it that you _never_ find rest, that you _never _sleep."_

_He couldn't answer. He couldn't even look up. He could feel it, the weight of the taint, bearing down on his heart, threatening to drag it out of his chest and leave his body dangling there in the darkness…_

_He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe._

"_**Pharaoh re im kyu  
****Pharaoh re im sned  
Ku iaxu nyt  
****Irt pef maa ket  
Irt pef maa ket**__!"_

_Breathe!_

Atem jolted awake and sucked in a gasp.

"Gyaah!" Jounouchi's startled cry was the first thing to hit the Pharaoh's ears, even before he could will his eyes to focus. He felt his head fall back; apparently he had jerked up off a pillow, but his drained body wasn't up to supporting his head just yet.

The cries of his friends collided with one another, shouting out their startlement that he was awake, their relief that he was alive, and their worry that he was again incapacitated.

"My other self!" That was his Aibou. He didn't need working eyes to tell when his other half was near; he never had.

"Atem!" Honda was there too. And at the same time, Jounouchi had chimed in with his name.

"Yugi!"

Atem blinked. The fog over his vision slowly wavered, thinned, and dissipated. He saw Anzu's worry-wracked face hovering just out of reach, her blue eyes shining with horror and anxiety.

He saw his Aibou shoot her a stare of incredulity, saw her realize her mistake, and saw from that visage of heart-wrenching worry filling his vision that she didn't care.

It was an old habit, calling him Yugi. After all, he had shared that name with his Aibou for so long that it was second nature for his friends to still think of him as Yugi. Even though he had his own name back now, sometimes he expected that name to leave their lips in reference to _him_, not Aibou. It was as if the name was on the tips of their tongues, or hiding just under the surface of their eyes.

Anzu had finally slipped and used the old title. But for some reason, as Atem lay on the hard, white cot in the school nurse's station, his pale, thin form still trembling from the force of his nightmares, he didn't care either. Being called by that old name caused him to smile.

"My other self!" Yugi was there at his side, the round, worried eyes filling Atem's vision, which, peering out of a shaken mind, could only focus on one thing at a time. "What happened? Are you alright?" The teenager took Atem's limp hand between both of his, clasping it tightly.

Atem didn't speak. He was still breathing, just _breathing_, drinking in that sweet, sweet nectar of life and thanking every god he knew of for it.

Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu crowded behind Yugi, each trying to get as close to Atem as possible without squishing the smaller boy into the side of the cot. "You just pitched forward and bam! Out cold in the middle of Sociology class!" That was Jounouchi, of course, ever the blunt one. Atem's vision swiveled to rest on the blond, a weak smile pulling at his lips.

"My other self, you're _shaking_ like _crazy_." Yugi pulled the pale hand to his chest. "And you're freezing cold."

"I'm with Yugi: What in the world _happened_?" Honda's incredulity echoed Jounouchi's, though the element of underlying calm in the other boy's voice was more effective at betraying his worry than Jounouchi's thoughtless outbursts.

"The nurse went to go call your grandpa." Anzu's moments of panic seemed to have subsided. Now that Atem was awake and breathing at least semi-normally, the terror he had seen flash on her face was now receding back into the depths of her blue eyes, covered up by thick layers of intelligence, of purpose, of thoughtfulness and strength. He watched her eyes as she once again shoved her own emotions aside so that she could better see to the care of her friends. "He should be here in a few minutes to take you home."

"My other self…" Once again, Yugi's voice drew Atem's gaze to his Aibou's face. The quiet suffering in the younger boy's voice silenced all of his friends' urgency, pulling the fervor out of their faces, causing them to sink as they shared the weight of his concern. "Please. Tell us what happened."

Atem's breathing had evened out, the desperate gasps easing into deep breaths. His heart rate, too, was slowing down to a normal tempo. His shaken mind was beginning to settle, improving his vision and his mental focus.

"Aibou…"

The weakened voice made Yugi only pull Atem's hand to his chest again. The worry and care the teenager's face carried made Atem's soul ache. This was his other half, a boy who once was and would always be a part of his _soul_, hurting again because _he_ was hurting.

Half-mast eyes jolted back to bulging.

"That voice--!"

Yugi's, Anzu's, Jounouchi's, and Honda's eyes widened as one, each of them taken aback by Atem's sudden epiphany. "Wh-what voice?" Jounouchi ventured.

Atem's gaze flickered between each of their faces, his look sliding from astonishment to sheer intensity of will. "From the temple, the temple in Kul Elna! The doors to the Afterworld!"

Yugi's eyes slowly widened as comprehension dawned on him. Comprehension was just as surely replaced with horrified incredulity. "You mean that one that said…"

"'You don't get to leave.'" Anzu gave a shiver as she repeated the words, knowing what had come next. Memories of the Pharaoh's agony before the Doors of Wdjat were not something she—or any of them—wanted to hold onto. Jounouchi gave a shiver as well, and Honda gritted his teeth at the recollection.

"He was in my dream," Atem continued urgently. "Except it wasn't a dream. I mean—at least—it didn't feel like any sort of dream. It felt more like something from when—from the Memory World. Except nothing like that could have been a memory. It was…" It was Atem's turn to shiver. For a moment, his gaze dropped, his intensity faltering.

"It's okay." Yugi's voice drew the violet eyes back up to his partner's face, where they widened in surprise—Yugi was _smiling_. It was a sad smile, with sad, pained eyes, but it was a smile meant to encourage, a smile meant to forgive, a smile meant to ease away the terrors of the night by emulating the light of the day. The boy shook his head. "If you don't want to talk about it, you don't need to. I mean…obviously it was no ordinary dream. You fell unconscious so suddenly…and you could barely get your breath while you were out. But if it was a nightmare we're dealing with…no, it's okay."

"No, Aibou." The intensity was returning to the Pharaoh's voice, slowly but surely. His friends' gazes became drawn to his eyes, drawn in as the determination on his face—his pale, strained, exhausted face—grew and strengthened with each passing second. "You have a right to know what happened. I can't keep you in the dark; I can't just let all of you worry about me again." They watched as the inexplicable illness that had suddenly overcome their friend was slowly banished by sheer force of _will_.

Atem didn't try to sit up to relay his tale. He suspected that Yugi would have pushed him right back down into a resting position had he tried. Besides, whatever had stolen his consciousness and breath was still keeping him rather light-headed, so it was probably wisest to stay lying down for the moment.

But he spared nothing for fervency when telling his friends of his visions. He told them about how he had heard the voice speaking to him in the classroom, how he had heard the laughter when no one else had. He told them of the cave, of the strain on his mind, of the hissing curses his adversary flung at him. And he told them of the spell.

"Egyptian?" Yugi's brain chewed over the implications of Atem's words as soon as they were out of the Pharaoh's mouth. The worried, anxious look on the boy's face quickly gave way to a determinedly calculating, ponderous gaze. "That means Anzu was right. Your enemy is one who has been dogging your steps for three thousand years."

Four pairs of eyes fixated on Mutou Yugi. Experience had showed them that this contemplative tone always revealed the intricate genius behind the shy exterior of the diminutive gamer.

"This was the same voice from the temple of the Afterlife. It was the same man who gave you your new body. He wants…it seems like all he wants to do is torture you, My Other Self. It's as we thought. He only kept you in this world because he hates you. Because…" The young man clenched a fist. "Because he wants to cause you pain. And he's using powerful, ancient magic to do it."

"Bastard." Jounouchi's low grate tore from his throat just before he too clenched both fists. "That _bastard_…he won't get away with this. Even if…even if he just up and _gave_ you that body…he's a creepy, sadistic, evil _jerk_, and I _promise_ you he's going down."

Honda nodded to Jounouchi gravely, then shared the stony look with Atem and Yugi. "I hate to say it, Atem, but it does look like this gift was a double-edged sword. All this Voice-from-the-Shadows guy wants is to make you go crazy. And _regardless_ of the fact that he gave you your current life…I will _not_ forgive him for the other stuff he's done to you."

Anzu was silent. Her eyes were closed; her whole face was closed, expression turned towards the floor, betraying nothing.

Silence hung in the air, fear and anxiety fighting with intense will and determined vengeance, choking the cramped space of the school nurse's office. Atem watched each of his friend's faces, unsure of whether to be grateful for their sentiments, insights, and loyalty, or to be angry: angry that they wanted to put themselves in danger, because of him, _again_; furious at this nameless shadow mage for putting all of them into this situation in the first place.

"The spell." Anzu's voice was quiet, her tone reserved as she finally spoke. "What did it say?"

Atem studied her face for a moment, unsure of what to say as she looked like that. She kept her eyes on the floor rather than looking at him. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

"Well, like I mentioned," he began tentatively, "I heard the mutter of spells before I even lost consciousness…I wasn't sure what he was saying then, but I could tell from the meter of his speech that it was an incantation. The part I _did_ understand seemed like a spell, but its meter was different from the others, plus it was in a rather odd dialect of Egyptian."

The others were listening intently now, pulled out of their reveries of silence to study Atem's expression as he spoke.

" 'Pharaoh soaked in darkness  
Pharaoh soaked in fear  
The light ends of  
The Eye that Sees All,  
The Eye that Sees All.' "

Another silence hung in the air, this time wiped clean of anxiety. Instead, the air was hung with baffled contemplation.

A knock sounded on the door to the little room just before one of the school nurses poked her head in. A little smile curled onto her harried, overworked countenance as she saw that Atem had regained consciousness. "Ah, Mutou-kun. Your grandpa is here." She shared an encouraging smile at all present, then flitted back out again, off to attend to some other sick students.

Yugi gave a sigh, his small shoulders growing heavy as he closed his eyes. He gave Atem's bloodless hand another squeeze. "Let's not worry about it for now," he said in a quiet voice. "Riddles and ancient Egyptian mages aren't as important as you getting _well_, my other self."

Jounouchi nodded in conviction and agreement. "Let's lay off the _whole_ Ancient Egypt thing for a while, I say, cause ever since we went to that temple things have been nothing but weird."

"And nothing but trouble for _you_," Honda added gravely, giving his bedridden friend a sympathetic look.

"Yugi is right." Anzu looked up at Atem, revealing a soft, encouraging smile. "The important thing is for you to get better. Just relax for now, okay?"

_Everyone…_

As his violet eyes flickered between the faces of his closest, dearest friends, it dawned on Atem that they were absolutely right. He wasn't going to do any riddle-solving or research if he couldn't even get out of _bed_.

Besides, he was getting _really_ tired of this whole constantly-sick thing. The past five weeks had literally been one mysterious magical affliction after another, and if bedrest would make it all just _go away_, then Atem was more than willing to try it.

The tiniest of warm smiles flickered across his lips. "Okay."

He let his head sink back into the pillow and deflated in a long, slow breath. The weary Pharaoh closed his eyes.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **And now, after FIVE chapters, I'm FINALLY going to respond to the comments of my wonderful reviewers! I keep forgetting to do this, cause…well…this is my first multi-chapter fanfic, and also the fic I've gotten the most reviews on, EVER. And it's all thanks to you, my readers! Yay! XD

I've responded to a lot of your questions in Private Messages, so hopefully I can keep this short and not taint the true wordcount of this chapter. Heh. XD;; Oh, and don't worry; I won't do this every chapter, just every chapter where I don't have much rambling to do about the chapter itself. I'm actually writing these before this chapter is even finished…yeeeeah. XD;

To "thehowlingstandmygroundange..." one of my two Anonymous reviewers so far: That is really a fantastic idea. I do so love the theme of siblings and brotherhood in anime and manga; that's part of the reason why I'm such a rabid Fullmetal Alchemist fan. XD Unfortunately, I already had this chapter fully planned out when I got that review, and as I write this, I really have no idea when the Muses will see fit to let me bring Kaiba and Mokuba back into the story…They'll not fade, though, not by any means. I just need to watch more of the Battle City arc to brush up on my Kaiba characterization, that's all. Heh.

**Darkmoon Fleur****: **Wow! Well I feel honored that you chose my fic to read on your random YGO whim! My hat off to you, friend, and my thanks! And fwee, you like my cliffie; I'm happy about that! XD I was a little unsure about it at first, but if you say it works then I'm all fuzzy inside. XD Also, have no fear: This fic is intended to be plot-centric (and primarily angst-driven, lawlz, but shhhh, don't quote me on that ~.^) and not romance-centric. I WILL, however, try my best to give homage to and to develop the character tensions that exist canonly in the manga and anime. (And *cough* Personally I was disappointed that there was no resolution to the Atem/Yugi/Anzu love triangle in the manga or anime, butyeah, different story there. XD;; ) BTW, is your penname a pun on the "Darkmoon Faire" in World of Warcraft? XD

**Kari Izumi****: **Uwah! I'm so happy that you dropped by! I am really, Really, INCREDIBLY glad that you like this story, especially because, now that I've gotten out and READ some YGO fanfic, I have seen the overuse of this same plot idea…But in my defense, the fact that Atem has a body IS the plot, and not just an instrument to further another agenda…but I think you alluded to that, and I'm happy that you like that! You get Cookies of Forum Guru Homage! XD

**kogasgal27****: **Thank you for all THREE of your reviews, and your lovely compliments! My hat off to you as well, friend! And cookies! Lots of them! XD

**RumQueen****: **Please. Please. Please. Keep reviewing? I know it sounds HORRIBLE to say that—it sounds like I'm begging for reviews like a two-cent newb—but truth be told, I LOVE reading your reviews. For one thing they're LONG (which fills me with utter glee) and for another, you comment on just about every aspect of the chapter, which fills me with even MORE glee! And thank you for your compliments about Valon especially; I was worried about getting him right! XD; But gaspu! No Atem x Anzu for you? Well have no worries, m'friend; this is a Plotfic and it is NOT my intention for it to develop into a romance fic. Instead, I'm merely trying to give a nod to and further develop the canon tensions between the characters. :3 But Cookies and Brownies of Win for you! XD

**Shadow over Egypt****:** Ah, I blush at your wonderful compliments; thank you! I got a chance to read some of your work as well; not enough, sadly, seeing as finding time for simply writing is hard enough…but considering your high level of skill, I feel especially complimented! So thank you! You get a Basket of Win. XD

**JustJos16****: **You! Pastry Shop of Win for you! XD Not only were you the first person to review this piece, but you made FOUR of them! Thank you so much! I think I answered your question about Raphael in my last PM…and hopefully the content of this chapter satisfies any stray Raphael cravings. Heh. XD; Again, thank you for the lovely compliments!

**: **Goodness, THANK you! It relieves me so much to hear that you like this story despite the fact that it's not pairing-centered. I have absolutely nothing, nothing at ALL, against pairing-central fics, but…I love a good plot. And I love a good challenge. And plotting is actually quite the challenge for me; for the most part, I consider myself a character-oriented writer. Nothing gets me on a bigger creative high than spinning a plot and using that weaving to develop a wonderful set of characters. So you can probably see why plotfics are better for me to write than pairingfics, yes? Cause I get a much bigger high off of the traditional stuff. Go figure. XD

**petalpixie****: **Heh! Thank you for the wonderful compliments, friend! More Cookies of Win for you! Yes, yes, more cookies! XD

**Gabbie-chan****: **I believe I PM'ed you, m'friend, though I can't remember exactly what I said…and I KNOW I reviewed your story. XD Which, btw, you should update if you get the time. Yes, yes indeed you should. XD And yes. Brownies of Win are in store for you. I present these cyber-Brownies to you in hopes they will be a suitable bribe for you to update with a new chapter. Heh.

I'm sorry to those others of you that I haven't responded to, but it's high-time I wrapped this up and posted the chapter…! I wrote all of this a YEAR ago and never posted it…I just wanted to get it up, thusly it's so short! I'm sorry! But THANK YOU SO MUCH all for reading AND reviewing! Much love!


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